Nadim Sawalha - Biography

Nadim Sawalha studied drama in England and first worked as an actor, radio producer and scriptwriter for the BBC Overseas Service. Since then he has worked extensively in theatre, television and cinema.

Nadim returned to Jordan for two years in the early sixties, where he trained young performers and formed the basis for Jordan’s now thriving theatre companies.

In the eighties, Nadim set up an animation company, using the talents of two young graduates from St. Martin’s College of Art. He produced an animated series called ‘Hoja Goes West’, the adventures of an old Bedouin coming to London. He financed the series by making animated commercials for the Middle East, and the Hoja series, in English, was shown around the world.

He is part of a theatrical family - his brother, Nabil, is one of the creators of The Theatre of Political Satire in Jordan, where Nadim still works as a director, and two of his three daughters, Nadia and Julia, are working actresses - Nadia having started her career in TV playing in ‘Second Thoughts’ with Julia, then going on to play Annie Palmer in ‘Eastenders’ for two years. She has more recently been working as a BBC TV presenter on ‘City Hospital’, ‘Living in the Sun’ and ‘Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre’. Julia is known for her work in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, ‘Second Thoughts’, ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ amongst others.

.....and the young ones are coming up too.....Nadim’s grandson and niece are both studying Drama.....