• Shohreh Aghdashloo is a film and television actress who plays the role of Sajida Khairallah Talfah in the BBC and HBO miniseries House of Saddam.

• Fast Facts

  1. Name pronounced: Sho-RAY OCK-dosh-looU.S. News and World Repot: From Tehran to Hollywood
  2. Birth name: Pari Vaziri-Tabar
  3. Born: May 11, 1952
  4. Birth place: Tehran, Iran
  5. Spouse: Houshang Touzie
  6. Debut TV show: Matlock
  7. Astrological sign: Taurus
  8. Fled Iran just before the revolution at 4 a.m. on February 28, 1978U.S. News and World Repot: From Tehran to Hollywood
  9. Goodwill ambassador for TIMOTCAFree Press Release: Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo Becomes Goodwill Ambassador for...
  10. Name was banned from Iranian media for 25 yearsU.S. News and World Repot: From Tehran to Hollywood

• Notable Roles

  • 2008: Sajida Khairallah Talfah in House of Saddam
  • 2006: Anna in The Lake House
  • 2005: Dina Araz in 24
  • 2003: Nadi in House of Sand and Fog

• Early Career

  Shohreh Aghdashloo spent five years as a film and stage actress in Iran before leaving the country just before the revolution broke out. Abandoning her acting dreams, she traveled to London, where she got her degree in International Relations with plans to become a journalist. Instead, she ended up taking a role in a play that inspired her to return to acting.The Trades: Interview: Shohreh Aghdashloo: On 24 and Islam

• American Acting Career

  Shohreh Aghdashloo moved to Los Angeles in 1987, where she made guest appearances on such television shows as Matlock and Martin. She gained received an Oscar nomination in 2003 for her role in House of Sand and Fog. Since then she has appeared in such television shows as 24, ER, Will and Grace and Grey's Anatomy, and the films X-Men 3, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and The Nativity Story.

• House of Saddam

  House of Saddam is a 4-part miniseries on the BBC and HBO that chronicles the rise and fall of former Iraq president Saddam Hussein. Aghdashloo plays Sajida Khairallah Talfah, Hussein's cousin and first wife.

• Quotes

  "Just amazing. We have a saying in Farsi, 'As much as you try to hide the moon in your backyard, one night it's gonna come out and shine.' The moon is out now, and I'm so happy about it."—January 24, 2005, about her name being printed in an Iranian publicationTiIME: Q&A: Shohreh Aghdashloo

  "I wanted to become a political journalist to help the people of Iran and the militants to free themselves from religious tyranny. I had experienced it first hand, and I thought I would be useful as a journalist. When the play came around, even though I had promised myself that I would never act, I said that I would read it. I discovered that it was a political play about Iran. I realized that maybe I could be even more helpful by portraying such powerful stories on the stage and on the screen."—March 21, 2005The Trades: Interview: Shohreh Aghdashloo: On 24 and Islam

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  House of Saddam | Saddam Hussein | Yigal Naor | 24 | The Lake House | X-Men 3 | The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 | The Exorcism of Emily Rose | The Simpsons | Will and Grace

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