Anthony Azizi (born Kamal Rowshan) is an American actor and producer, of Iranian descent, with a career that includes popular roles in 24 and Lost.
Biography[]
Anthony Azizi started his career as a child acting in plays for the Touchstone Theater in Bethlehem, PA. He also started writing and staging his own plays at the age of eight and continued in the arts throughout all of his schooling. Azizi attended Freedom High School and attributes the love for acting and the inspiration to the opportunities offered. Anthony was accepted to Muhlenberg College with a soccer scholarship, but soon fell into acting once again and received his BFA in Theater Arts and soon was performing in many of the plays and musicals there. He starred in the world premier of South Pacific Snow and was nominated for an Irene Ryan award for his portrayal in The Miss Firecracker Contest.
Upon graduating, Azizi moved straight to New York and did not waste any time starting to do plays all over New York including working at the famed Ensemble Studio Theater and the Thirteenth St. Reparatory Company. It was at the 13th Street Rep where he finally got noticed in New York in the play Three of a Kind. The play landed him his first agent and soon it was off to Los Angeles. Anthony ran his own theater company in New York called The Clandestine Group which used 13th Street's space to stage its own productions.
Once in LA he was hired to play in the Universal feature McHale's Navy, one of his first and biggest breaks in his career. Soon after other roles started coming in including Three Kings, For Richer or Poorer, Tomcats, and many TV guest spots working with some of the best in the business. In 2001 came The Lost Battalion, a film which received critical acclaim for A & E.
In 2003 Azizi landed his first series in ABC's one hour drama Threat Matrix After extensive research, it came to light that Anthony was the first Iranian American actor in history to be a series regular on a network one hour drama and holds this as one of the most crowning achievements in his career.
Anthony continued to work in many series after including Dragnet, NYPD Blue, The Shield, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls to name a few. In 2002, he recurred as Mamud Faheen on the series 24; and then again in 2005 as Rafique. He has also recurred on Desperate Housewives playing Mr. Falati.
In 2005 Azizi was asked to do the series Commander in Chief. He played Vince Taylor, Chief Aid to the President of the United States, and his character was gay and had HIV. The show received a People's Choice Award nomination in 2005, as well as a GLAAD nomination for best series primarily because of his portrayal of Vince Taylor.
Many other guest spots came then including CSI Miami, Without a Trace, Sleeper Cell, and Criminal Minds (that episode won a couple of awards).
In 2006 starred in the film American East for director Hesham Issawi. The film has been an official selection for many of the world's most prominent film festivals and has won numerous awards.
Anthony Azizi is currently recurring on the TV series Lost playing Omar.
On Criminal Minds[]
Azizi portrayed a suspected terrorist detainee in Guantanamo Bay that was revealed to be Jamal Abaza, a known Al-Qaeda member, in the episode "Lessons Learned" of Season Two.
He then portrayed Arkem Sarkis in the Season One episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, "Denial".
Filmography[]
- The Last Ship - 4 episodes (2017) - Omar
- Armed Response (2017) - Mehdi
- Homeland (2017) - Naser
- The Blacklist (2017) - Farook al-Thani
- Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero (2016) - Kamal Hashari
- Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - "Denial" (2016) TV episode - Arkem Sarkis
- Septembers of Shiraz (2015) - Mehdi
- American Odyssey - 4 episodes (2015) - Yusuf
- Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist (2015) - Uncle Dariush
- Always Faithful (2014) - Sayyid
- Madam Secretary (2014) - Minister of Oil Barakar
- Guardian Angel (2014) - Doctor Hooshang Kazemi
- Sons of Anarchy - 2 episodes (2013) - Amir Ghanezi
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013) - Ahmed
- Grey's Anatomy (2013) - Syrian Doctor
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2012) - Adrian Dinan
- NCIS: Los Angeles (2012) - Adanan Al-Ahmadi
- Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012) - Mr. Crow
- Of Two Minds (2012) - Doctor Lewis
- This Narrow Place (2011) - Fouad
- Person of Interest (2011) - Yusuf
- 90210 - 8 episodes (2011) - Uncle Amal
- Single Ladies - 6 episodes (2011) - Wes Domingus
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) - Lieutenant Sulimani
- Priest (2011) - Farsi Speaking Vendor
- CSI: NY (2011) - Broxton Langley
- Faith in Common (2010) - Unknown Character
- Gigantic - 3 episodes (2010) - Mr. Khandon
- Leverage (2010) - Vezarat Leader
- The Mentalist (2010) - Louis Anglet
- Lost - 7 episodes (2008-2010) - Omar Idris
- The Deep End (2010) - Benjamin Faraz
- Flashforward (2009) - Samad
- Lie to Me (2009) - Omar Kahn
- Prison Break - 2 episodes (2009) - Naveen Banarjee
- Chuck (2008) - Sheik Rajiv Amad
- AmericanEast (2008) - Murad
- The Unit (2008) - Amin Al-Nura
- Eagle Eye (2008) - Ranim Khalid
- Head Case (2008) - Doctor Banerjee
- Charlie Wilson's War (2007) - Orderly (uncredited)
- Veronica Mars (2007) - Rashad Krimani
- CSI: Miami (2007) - Allen Comden
- Las Vegas (2007) - Levon Najar
- Without a Trace (2007) - Ghalib Al-Nayhan
- Sleeper Cell (2006) - Yasser
- Criminal Minds - "Lessons Learned" (2006) TV episode - Jamal Abaza
- Desperate Housewives - 2 episodes (2006) - Mr. Falati
- Commander in Chief - 19 episodes (2005-2006) - Vince Taylor
- Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) - Hassan
- 24 - 4 episodes (2002-2005) - Rafique/Mamud Rasheed Faheen
- The West Wing (2005) - Chet Bin Hamid
- NYPD Blue (2005) - Nestor Duarte
- Threat Matrix - 15 episodes (2003-2004) - Mohammad Hassain
- Gilmore Girls (2004) - Luciano
- The Shield (2004) - Petrosh
- Dragnet (2004) - John Saadi
- EMR (2004) - Taxi Driver
- Septem8er Tapes (2004) - Northern Alliance Leader (uncredited)
- Phobic (2002) - The Killer
- Tequila Express (2002) - Gregory Adams
- Breaking News (2002) - Arab Leader
- JAG - 2 episodes (1997-2002) - Lieutenant Alex Zahar/Unknown Character
- The Lost Battalion (2001) - Private Nat Henchman
- Venomous (2001) - Male Terrorist
- That's Life (2001) - Shopkeeper
- The Agency (2001) - Middle East Watcher
- Tomcats (2001) - Sikh Elvis Chaplain
- The Princess & the Marine (2001) - Lieutenant Ibrahim Bin Talaal
- Strong Medicine (2000) - ER Doctor
- Three Kings (1999) - Iraqi Rebel (uncredited)
- Desert Son (1999) - Tito
- Dating Games (1998) - Frankie
- For Richer or Poorer (1997) - Malik
- Malcolm & Eddie (1997) - Bank Robber
- McHale's Navy (1997) - Bad News Henchman
- Crisis Center (1997) - Mamud Farooq
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1997) - Barak
External Links[]
- For an up-to-date Filmography, see here.
Notes[]
- He played in a rock band growing up.
- He was the Homecoming King of his high school.
- Azizi has a production company with his friend Kurt Cáceres.
- Azizi's sister, Mona, was a reporter for an ABC affiliate news station in New York.
- Azizi is involved in Equality Now and The Noor Film Festival which he co-founded.
- Anthony Azizi is a member of the Baha'i Faith, the guiding compass in his life.