The Turkish warden actor is a nice guy in real life?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Midnight Express
jeffyoung1 — 16 years ago(May 20, 2009 01:38 PM)
I read many years later that the man who played the ugly, brutal, sadistic Turkish prison warden is some normal dude from New York. His problem was that he was too realistic in his acting. People mistook his movie character for his real personality. He was a hated man. It's so ironic in Hollywood. So many Hollywood 'villains' were reputedly very nice guys in real life. But they looked mean, tough, and vicious, which pegged them as villainous movie character types. Every time I research some past Hollywood villain, writeups describe the guy as a real nice dude in real life. LOL.
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EdsDiner — 16 years ago(June 16, 2009 12:58 AM)
A few years ago I saw a short interview clip with Paul L Smith who plays the warden, he had a strong New York accent, and was saying that even off filming he would scare Brad Davis. Guess it shows the great acting from both actors
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stevenackerman69 — 16 years ago(July 21, 2009 07:13 PM)
Well, Paul L. Smith, who played Hamidou, was just acting. He also played Bluto in Popeye and seemed mean there too. Just because you play a bad guy in a film doesn't mean you aren't nice. It is the same thing with talented singers, like Robert Goulet, who was a nasty SOB to some people.
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buchan1965 — 16 years ago(August 27, 2009 12:10 AM)
He's also in the movie "The In-Laws" (the original 1979 version, not the crappy remake). He plays one of the hired thugs keeping guard outside Peter Falk's office building. I was stunned to discover he's an American he seemed so convincing as a Turkish thug.
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Edward_de_Vere — 16 years ago(October 12, 2009 02:42 PM)
Why are so many people unable to distinguish films from reality? That's the only explanation for the "shock" they feel when they find out that TV's Mr. Evil is really a nice man or TV's hero/Mr. Nice guy is a nasty SOB.
Just because an actor portrays a villain or a hero in a movie convincingly doesn't mean that he has to be either in life. In fact, a competent actor should be able to do both equally well. It ought to be self-evident, but for some folks -
jbartelone — 11 years ago(September 17, 2014 12:22 PM)
The real head warden that Paul Smith played, Hamidou, was actually shot to death outside a coffee shop in Turkey. I think Billy says in his book he treated him badly, but nowhere near what Hamidou did in the movie.
I don't think in the movie, Hamidou is called by name.
Joe -
okc_rn — 9 years ago(September 26, 2016 08:15 PM)
According to the biography on Imdb.com on Paul Smith
http://www.imdb.com/board/20809544/?ref_=tt_cl_t5
Born: June 24, 1936 in Everett, Massachusetts, USA
Died: April 25, 2012 (age 75) in Ra'anana, Israel
He has an impressive list as an actor, not all parts were heavies. He was on Hawaii Five-O, Barney Miller, Chips, Emergency, Have Gun will Travel. How could such a person be a bad guy.
The biograhy also mentions he immigrated to Isreal and adopted the hewbrew name Adam Eden.