Father of Iranian voice acting Ali Kasmai dies at 97

Father of Iranian voice acting Ali Kasmai dies at 97 
Tehran Times: Ali Kasmaii, who was considered the father of voice acting in Iran, died at his home in Tehran on Tuesday evening at the age of 97.

Due to his old age, Kasmaii was bedridden over the past two years, Persian news outlets reported.

He had a BA in economics from the University of Tehran. However, he pursued a career in the art of voice acting in 1950. 

In 1954, he worked as the director of group of voice actors for “Prince of Foxes” (1949), Henry King’s film adapted from Samuel Shellabarger’s novel “Prince of Foxes”.
He also directed the groups of voice actors for George Cukor’s “My Fair Lady” (1964), David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago” (1965) and many other acclaimed films. 

In addition, he helmed the dubbing of many Iranian films including “Prince Ehtejab” directed by Bahman Farmanara and “The Story of the Prosperous Man” directed by Reza Heidarnejad. The TV series “Hezar Dastan” and “Sarbedaran” were voiced by voice actors selected by Kasmaii.

Kasmaii was master of many veteran Iranian voice actors. “Kasmaii is master of all of us. We began voice acting with him,” Abolhassan Tahaminejad once said in an interview.
“The father of Iranian voice acting is the best title for Kasmaii,” Gholam-Ali Afsharieh told the Persian service of FNA.
“May his soul rest in peace,” he added.

“You consider me as the father of film dubbing in Iran, but I owe it to all my colleagues and mentors,” Kasmaee said during a ceremony the Young Voice Actors Forum (YVAF) held in February 2010 to honor him.

“I am happy that God has let me live long enough to work with three generations. Now I can say that I had the honor of working with men who are the pride of Iranian film dubbing,” he said.
The YVAF named one of its studios after Kasmaii.
He donated all his memorabilia to the Film Museum of Iran in 2009.