Habib Reda

Habib Reda in Arabic حبيب رضا whose real name is Mohamed Hattab born on March 28 1919 in Miliana is an Algerian actor and musician Habib Reda had several strings to his bow actor director on the radio in sports and supreme privilege by participating in the Algerian War Sentenced to death twice during the heroic Battle of Algiers fought against Massus paratroopers Habib Reda paid dearly for his commitment by being incarcerated at the Sarouy school transformed into an interrogation center where he was tortured for a long time He began a career as a professional actor in 1939 in Mahieddine Bachtarzis troupe where he was one of the main actors with his brother Madjid Reda who died fighting in the Aurès in 1960 Habib Reda an affable and cultured man who played Molière and Shakespeare brilliantly rubbed shoulders with the greats of the time such as Keltoum Sissani Mohamed Touri among others I started at Djamiaât Chabiba an association of ulama who taught the Arabic language We gave performances during religious holidays and the month of Ramadan The theater thus became my vocation to such an extent that at 18 with a friend who also wanted to be an actor I almost stowed away to Egypt fascinated as we were then by its cinema its singers and its musicals It was around this time that Mahieddine Bachtarzi was looking to expand his troupe with young people who could read and write Arabic because he had the obligation to stage plays in literary Arabic So professionally I started in 1939 with the father of Algerian theater he confided in an interview A professional theater actor under the leadership of Mahieddine Bachtarzi who became his fatherinlaw Habib Reda is said to be a privileged witness to the birth of Algerian theater In cinema he played in the first talking film shot in the Maghreb Kenzi Mon Trésor in Z by CostaGavras According to Arlette Roth author of Le Théâtre Algérien Ed Maspero Paris 1967 Habib Reda belongs to the 2nd generation of Algerian actors At the end of his artistic career he became an industrialist and lived between Algiers Paris and the United States Habib Reda died on May 29 2013 at the age of 94 He is buried in the ElKettar cemetery in Algiers