Habib Benglia's 128th Birthday

Google Dooles 25.08.2023 03:00  Date: August 25, 2023 Today’s Doodle celebrates French actor Habib Benglia’s 128th Birthday. Benglia was the first African-born actor to land significant roles in both film and theater. Benglia was born in Oran, Algeria on this day in 1895. He grew up in Timbuktu before moving to France for school. He hoped to one day be an agricultural engineer but loved theater and regularly attended performances. After a talent scout saw him reciting poetry to friends, he was encouraged to audition for plays and starred in Le Minaret, Aphrodite, and L’Oedipe Roi de Bouhélier. After being demobilized from the WWI, Benglia continued to pursue acting. In 1923, he was cast as a lead in The Emperor Jones. This made 27-year-old Benglia the first black actor to star in a main role at the national French theater. He then wrote several plays, including Un soir à Bamako , which later showed on television in 1950. Benglia starred in lead roles for films like Dainah la Métisse, Sola, and Les Mystères de Paris. Colonial cinema, however, largely stifled Benglia’s attempts to play more versatile characters. Despite prejudice and racism during this time, Benglia performed in over a hundred plays. One of the pioneers of Black theater and film in France, Benglia's legacy remains at center stage for underrepresented performers everywhere. Happy birthday, Habib Benglia! Location: Tags: