Alexander Siddig facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Alexander Siddig
ألكسندر صديق
Siddig at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim el-Mahdi (1965-11-21) 21 November 1965 (age 59) Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan
Other names	Siddig el-Fadil
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Nana Visitor ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2001)​ Shana Collier ​ (m. 2015)​
Children	1
Relatives	Malcolm McDowell (uncle) Charlie McDowell (cousin) Sadiq al-Mahdi (uncle) Muhammad Ahmad (great-great-grandfather) Thomas Birkett, 3rd Baron Birkett (half-brother)

Alexander Siddig (born November 21, 1965) is a British actor and director. He was born as Siddig el-Fadil and is known for playing many different characters. You might know him best as Dr. Julian Bashir in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also played Hamri Al-Assad in 24, Doran Martell in Game of Thrones, and Ra's al Ghul in Gotham. Alexander Siddig has also appeared in movies like Syriana (2005) and Cairo Time (2009).

Early Life and Education

Alexander Siddig was born in Omdurman, Sudan, on November 21, 1965. His father was Sudanese, and his mother was English. His mother, Gloria, was the older sister of famous actor Malcolm McDowell, which makes Malcolm McDowell Alexander's uncle.

Siddig's parents met in Sudan in the 1960s. When he was two years old, his family moved to London, England. He spoke Arabic as a young child, but he learned English quickly after moving to Britain. Growing up in the UK in the 1970s was sometimes challenging for him because of his background. He later said he tried to fit in and not focus too much on his heritage.

In 1978, his mother married film director Michael Birkett, who adopted Siddig. Alexander has a half-brother named Thomas Birkett.

Siddig went to St Lawrence College, Ramsgate for school. He also studied geography and anthropology at University College London for a year. After that, he went to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) to study acting.

Acting Career

Alexander Siddig's first acting role was when he was 14. He played King Tut in a BBC children's show, but he didn't have any speaking lines. After finishing his studies at LAMDA, he worked in theatre as both an actor and a director.

His first TV role was in a British miniseries called The Big Battalions. Soon after, he got the part of Prince Feisal in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990). This TV movie was a follow-up to the famous film Lawrence of Arabia.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

His role as Prince Feisal caught the attention of Rick Berman, a producer for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Berman first thought Siddig might play Commander Benjamin Sisko. However, he decided Siddig was too young and instead cast him as Dr. Julian Bashir. Siddig stayed on Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons, from 1993 to 1999. He even directed two episodes of the show: "Business as Usual" and "Profit and Lace". In 1995, he officially changed his stage name from Siddig El Fadil to Alexander Siddig.

Roles After Star Trek

After Deep Space Nine ended in 1999, Alexander Siddig continued to act in many films and TV shows. He played a mountain guide in the movie Vertical Limit (2000) and Ajay in the fantasy film Reign of Fire (2002).

In 2005, he returned to the stage in a play called Whose Life Is It Anyway?. That same year, he appeared in Ridley Scott's film Kingdom of Heaven and starred with George Clooney in Syriana.

Siddig played the main character in the BBC TV movie Hannibal in 2006. In 2007, he was in the French film A Lost Man. That year, he also played Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the popular TV show 24.

In 2009, he starred with Patricia Clarkson in the movie Cairo Time. This film won an award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. He also played Jamal in the 2010 film Miral.

From 2011 to 2012, Siddig played Philip Burton in the science-fiction show Primeval. In 2012, he worked again with director Ruba Nadda in the film Inescapable.

Recent Work

In 2013, Siddig narrated the BBC Two nature show Wild Arabia. He also played Minos in the BBC fantasy show Atlantis.

From 2013 to 2015, he played Al-Rahim in the historical fantasy series Da Vinci's Demons. In 2015 and 2016, he appeared in the HBO series Game of Thrones as Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne. He also played Ruben Oliver in the British series Peaky Blinders.

In 2017, Siddig joined the cast of Gotham as League of Shadows leader Ra’s al Ghul. He also played Aristotle Onassis in the miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot.

More recently, in 2019, he appeared in the Netflix series The Spy. He also voiced Avi Singh in Star Wars: The Bad Batch in 2021. In 2022, he took on a lead role as Khader Khan in the TV series Shantaram. He also voiced a holographic version of his Star Trek character, Julian Bashir, in an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks in 2024.

Personal Life

Alexander Siddig met actress Nana Visitor while they were working on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Their son, Django, was born in 1996. Nana Visitor's pregnancy was even written into the storyline of Deep Space Nine! They were married in 1997 and later divorced in 2001.

Siddig met his second wife, Shana Collier, while filming Cairo Time. She was an assistant producer for the movie. They got married in 2015.

Alexander Siddig enjoys cooking, woodworking, gardening, and playing computer games. He lived in Los Angeles while filming Deep Space Nine, then moved to New York City. As of 2018, he lives in Massachusetts with his wife.

Filmography

Film

At TrekExpo in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2005

Television series

See also

In Spanish: Alexander Siddig para niños