Duraid Laham, or formerly known as "Ghawar Al-Toushi," was raised up in Damascus, Syria. He went to Damascus University to seek a degree in Chemistry. He obtained his degree in the early 1950s, and started his career as an actor, which was soon developed to become a professional comedian. Duraid, a married man with children, was nominated the ambassador of UNICEF in the middle east region in 1998. Presently he holds a rank of a minister in Syria. Although he's over 65, he still maintains his unique touches in his recent TV shows.

Duraid is well known for his acts under the nickname Ghawar Al-Toushi. This nickname has a funny story: he used to act under other nicknames until he met a person with the name Ghawar. He then added Al-Toushi (from tousheh - quarrel in Syrian) to the end of the name to form Ghawar Al-Tousheh. He starred in many movies, TV series, plays, etc. He's a legendary person because he was contemporary to two generations: the old generation who found the basis of the Syrian Film and TV industry like Nihad Qala'i, and the new generation like Yaser Al-Azmeh and many others.

Initially, he was featured in Hammam Al-Hana and Sah Al-noom, two of the funniest Arabic TV series. Since then, he co-starred many movies in Syria and Egypt before he moved to act on stage. He cooperated with Mohammed Al-Maghoot to produce some of the most popular plays in the Arab world. Such plays include: Lakasak Ya Watan, Shaqae'k Al-No'man, Ghorbeh, and Daye't Teshreen, all of which where played in major Arab capitals and, in some cases, some international cities like London.

Ghawar played many, many roles in different movies, and shows. However, most of his shows (if not all of them) represent the social situation of the typical Syrian person, deal with undergo political crisis in the area, and address the general public in the community. These become obvious when we look at one of his plays, or one of his movies. It's even seldom to see him acting without referring to such things.

Maybe Ghawar is always thought to be an actor, but in fact he's even a director and writer. For instance, he co-wrote, acted and directed Al-Hanafeh, a movie that deals with the social life in Syria.

Since 1990, Duraid's ability to act started to shrink, mainly because of his advanced age (in his 60s). He, however, made a couple of TV series like Al-Doghri (1990), Abo Al-hana (1996), and the most recent one, Awdat Ghawar (return of Ghawar). These shows weren't the best, but they generated a lot of money from broadcasting on different TV channels. Nevertheless, Duraid Laham's a gifted person with a sparkling talent. Considering all his accomplishments, he is, indeed, the best Syrian actor ever!

Celebrity profile from the Duraid Laham Kasak Ya Watan website.