Despite scorching heat and summer-end high humidity, waves of nationals and residents gathered yesterday at funeral of the renowned Kuwaiti actor Abdulhussein Abdulredha to express their deep grief at the great loss and bid the last good-bye to the deceased.
At around dusk, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali al-Ghanim led the huge crowd of citizens and expatriates, overseeing with tearful eyes the coffin of an actor who made them laugh for many years,being buried.
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Acting Minister of State for Youth Affairs Khaled Al-Roudhan said Abdulredha was an example to follow with respect of work devotion and national unity.
He represented all segments of the Kuwaiti society, the minister said, indicating that many Kuwaiti actors followed his steps.
The presence of such a large number of mourners reflects people’s affection toward him, the minister added, alluding to thousands of people who gathered at the cemetery to bid Abdulredha a last goodbye.
Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Information Sheikh Mohamed Abdullah al-Mubarak al-Sabah, who received the coffin upon arrival by air in Kuwait, said the deceased had devoted his life for serving Kuwait and promoting ideal patriotic messages.
Although his body has died, his works and thoughts will live on, the minister said in his eulogy of Abdulredha, who entertained people for many years with television, radio and theatrical works.
Bashar, son of the deceased, expressed deep gratitude to the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, for transporting the coffin back home aboard an Amiri aircraft.
Artist Bassem Abdulamir said Abdulredha had preached faithfulness to the homeland. The famous comedian Tareq Al-Ali said the Kuwaiti and Gulf arts ‘lost a basic foundation’. 
Abdulredha passed away at age 78 in London last Friday after suffering from a health setback.
The funeral drew a large crowd of people due to the popularity of the actor who had a prolific career spanning decades.
The image of Abdulredha will now be emblazoned on special postage stamps, the ministry of state services announced.
The stamps are but a token of appreciation for a man who was a household name and whose theatrical odyssey spanned for more than half a century, the ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that the special stamps will be available in post offices nationwide soon.
Shockwaves of grief are still sweeping through Kuwait after Abdulredha passed away.
Sheikh Mohamed earlier offered his condolences to the actor’s family, saying that the audience will sourly miss Abdulredha’s artistic input.
“Get off my back, I’m in London to have fun, to change scenery and enjoy myself. I’m not in London to be hospitalized,” was a line ‘Abu Adnan’ said in the 1981 play Bye Bye London. 
Born on July 15, 1939 in Dirwazat Abdulrazzaq, Sharq, Kuwait, Abdulredha ranked the seventh among 14 siblings.
He did not start his career as an actor, but first worked in the Department of Printing of the Ministry of Guidance and Information.
He then traveled on a scholarship to Egypt in 1956 to learn printmaking, and in 1961 he traveled on a mission to Germany to complete his studies in printmaking arts.
A son of a ‘Nokhetha’ or sea captain, Abdulredha’s talent of performing to crowds and ability to make people laugh started with him as a young boy, entertaining his mother with his siblings while his father was away for months a year.
This raw talent then was nurtured, developed and put on the right track after Abdulredha returned from Germany and started working with Egyptian director Zaki Tulaimat, before a young Abdulredha began to carve his own way to become one of Kuwait’s and the Arabian Gulf’s art pillars.
With dozens of plays, TV and radio series that spanned from the early 1960s all the way to the early years of this millinium, Abdulredha had long established himself as among the few Gulf actors to sear their names in the Arabic artistic memory.
His side-splitting slapstick comedy in the 1960s including Hawer Zawer and Al-Malgouf, dapper and dashing performances during the 1970s including Bani Samit and Thahiyat Beit Al-Ezz, and mature and well-rounded productions in the 1980s continued until the end of his career, and eventually his life.
Abdulredha kept on going, unstoppable, even bullets could not steer him off. He was the target of an assassination attempt due to his role portraying the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain in the 1991 play Seif Al-Arab.
Arguably, one of the best whoever mastered the role, Adulredha refused to cancel, or even delay the show for that night even though he was fired at while on the way to the theater.




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