JEDDAH — Actor Khalid Samy, one of the prominent Saudi performers, has passed away after a long fight against illness, his family announced on Friday. He was 60.

His son Faisal tweeted on Friday “My father died today due to health problems.”

“My father was an art icon, but most importantly, he was a good man.”

Khalid Samy was born in Al Qassim on December 1961. He started his acting career in early 1980.

He performed in a series of TV shows and theater works in his homeland and other Arab countries including Egypt and Kuwait until he had to keep a low profile due to illness and hospitalization in 2019.

His widely popular works include the famous Saudi TV comedy “Tash Ma Tash”.

Last year, his health deteriorated and he slipped into a coma for some time after a liver transplant.

The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) mourned his death. SBA called Khalid “one of the creative artists who have enriched the production journey of Saudi television for decades”. — SG