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Sam Dastor | |
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| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Cambridge Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Website | samdastor |
Sam Dastor is an Indian-born British actor best known for his appearances in British television series.
Dastor was born in India and raised in a Parsi family of Zoroastrian faith, though he later converted to Christianity. [1] He graduated from the University of Cambridge. [2] [3] He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and joined the National Theatre, where he was under the direction of Sir Laurence Olivier. [3]
Dastor has acted in the West End, including playing Ariel in a production of The Tempest while Paul Scofield played Prospero. Dastor also appeared in three of Simon Gray's plays: Melon, Hidden Laughter , and Cell Mates . [3]
Dastor is best known for his many appearances on British television, often playing characters of exotic origin. His most notable roles include Cassius Chaerea in the 1976 BBC adaptation of I, Claudius and Gandhi in both Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy and the film Jinnah . [4] Other credits include Coronation Street (as Jimmy, a Weatherfield Market trader in October 1981), Softly, Softly , Space: 1999 , Blake's 7 , Shoestring , Yes Minister , Fortunes of War , A Touch of Frost and Spooks . [5]
He has also narrated and voice-acted for a number of audiobooks and radio dramas. [3]
Zoroastrianism, also known as Mazdayasna and Behdin, is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom known as Ahura Mazda as its supreme being and Angra Mainyu as the opposing, destructive spirit and adversary to Ahura Mazda. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions and Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy.
The Parsis are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of the Persian Empire to escape religious persecution and conversion to Islam. The Parsi people comprise the older of the Indian subcontinent's two Zoroastrian communities vis-à-vis the Iranis, whose ancestors migrated to British-ruled India from Qajar-era Iran. According to a 16th-century Parsi epic, Qissa-i Sanjan, Zoroastrian Persians continued to migrate to the Indian subcontinent from Greater Iran in between the 8th and 10th centuries, and ultimately settled in present-day Gujarat after being granted refuge by a local Hindu king, Jadi Rana.
Dadabhai Naoroji, was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who served as 2nd, 9th, and 22nd President of the Indian National Congress from 1886 to 1887, 1893 to 1894 and 1906 to 1907. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, representing Finsbury Central between 1892 and 1895. He was the second person of Asian descent to be a British MP, the first being Indian MP David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who was disenfranchised for corruption after nine months in office.
Rattanbai Jinnah, also known as Ruttie Jinnah, was the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an important figure in the creation of Pakistan and the country's founder. Additionally, Rattanbai Petit belonged to some of the most influential families of the Indian Subcontinent, the Petit family, through her father; and the Jinnah family through her marriage. Her daughter Dina Wadia married Bombay Dyeing chairman Neville Wadia, of the Wadia family.
Gandhi is a 1982 epic biographical film based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, a major leader in the Indian independence movement against the British Empire during the 20th century. A co-production between India and the United Kingdom, the film was directed and produced by Richard Attenborough from a screenplay written by John Briley. It stars Ben Kingsley in the title role. The biographical film covers Gandhi's life from a defining moment in 1893, as he is thrown off a South African train for being in a whites-only compartment and concludes with his assassination and funeral in 1948. Although a practising Hindu, Gandhi's embracing of other faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam, is also depicted.
The North-West Frontier Province was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the British Punjab, during the British Raj. Following the referendum in 1947 to join either Pakistan or India, the province voted hugely in favour of joining Pakistan and it acceded accordingly on 14th August, 1947. It was dissolved to form a unified province of West Pakistan in 1955 upon promulgation of One Unit Scheme and was re-established in 1970. It was known by this name until 19 April 2010, when it was dissolved and redesignated as the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, by erstwhile President Asif Ali Zardari.
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad ; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following India's independence, he became the First Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master' and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India.
Maneka Gandhi is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist. She is a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She is the widow of Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi. She has been a minister in four governments, most recently in Narendra Modi's government from May 2014 to May 2019.
The Wadia family is a Parsi family from Surat, India currently based in Mumbai, India. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as shipbuilders serving the British East India Company as the latter established its sway over India. During the declining years of the British Raj, Neville Wadia, scion of the main branch of the family, married Dina Jinnah, only child of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Despite being the only descendants of the founding father of Pakistan, the family chose to stick to their mills and factories in India rather than emigrate to the new country. They prospered abundantly under Nehru-Gandhi dispensation and today, they run the Wadia Group of companies, one of the larger industrial conglomerates in India.
The Reverend James Hope Moulton was a British non-conformist divine. He was also a philologist and made a special study of Zoroastrianism.
Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, 1st Baronet was an Indian entrepreneur and founder of the first textile mills in India, as well as a great philanthropist. He was part of the Petit family and became the first Petit baronet.
Jinnah is a 1998 Pakistani–British epic biographical film which follows the life of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It was directed by Jamil Dehlavi, and written by Akbar S. Ahmed and Jamil Dehlavi. It stars Christopher Lee in the lead role as Jinnah.
John Richard Rolfe was a British actor. He was named after the colonist who married Pocahontas in Jamestown, Virginia.
Neville Ness Wadia was an Indian businessman, philanthropist and a member of the Wadia family, an old Parsi family which, by the 1840s, was one of the leading forces in the Indian shipbuilding industry. Wadia was the last of India's aristocratic taipans, who expanded his family textile concern into one of India's largest and donated lavishly for the welfare of the Parsee community to which he belonged.
Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy is a British television series which first aired on ITV in 1986. It depicts Lord Mountbatten's time as Supreme Commander, South-East Asia in the Second World War, and then as Viceroy of India shortly after the war in the days leading up to Indian independence. The Film was shot in Sri Lanka.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a barrister, politician and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, and then as the Dominion of Pakistan's first Governor-General until his death.
Rustomjee Jivanji Ghorkhodu, commonly known as Parsee Rustomjee, and by various orthographic variations including Parsi Rustomji and affectionately referred to as Kakaji, was an Indian-South African philanthropist and businessman, well known for his close mentorship, guidance and financial sponsorship of Mahatma Gandhi during his time in South Africa from 1893 to 1914.
By coincidence, Sam [Dastor] is Parsi and comes from the very part of India where the Zoroastrians, descendants of the ancient Magi, sought refuge. Sam was born and brought up as a Zoroastrian, before converting to Christianity. The Magi – one of whom he is playing – are his distant ancestors.
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