Ashraf Alawadi

Ashraf Al Awadi is an extraordinarily accomplished and internationally recognized theater and television actor, television presenter, voice over actor and puppeteer. He is particularly known in the field of children's entertainment, among others. He began his career as a performing artist at age 12 after he was cast in the lead role of a major motion picture, Al Hidae (The Shoes). The film received international recognition and was shown at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival 1988, received the "Dyplom Honorowy" (Honorary Diploma) at the 1988 Krakow Film Festival in Poland, and was nominated for Best Short Film at the 1988 Turin (Torino) Film Festival in Italy. This set him on a path as an entertainer. He studied at Yarmouk University in Jordan, majoring in theater arts. Upon graduation, Ashraf was cast as the host of two popular reality television shows for children titled, "Waqt Alfarah" and "Saa't Shabab" which were aired on Jordan TV, where he further honed his talent as a comedic actor. He later proved his excellence in live theater, writing and directing plays and starring in major theatrical productions. He has performed in Jordan's major national theater festivals, winning nationally recognized awards for Best Actor and Best Director at the Jordanian Children's Theatre Festival, Jordanian Youth Theatre Festival, and the Jordanian Theatre Festival. He was a recognized leader, performer, and educator at Jordan's National Center for Culture and Arts. Ashraf has toured extensively, performing in plays, writing, acting, and directing at prestigious venues throughout the Middle East with the acclaimed Qatar Theatrical Troupe. He was particularly influential as a performer and drama teacher and is one of the early adopters of the Theatre-in-Education (TIE) program in Jordan. According to Jordan's King Hussein Foundation's website, this program "raises awareness and understanding of the performing arts in the educational process and effectively promotes social change." Due to his renown in the field, the official Sesame Street organization, Sesame Workshop, headquartered in New York, selected Ashraf to provide the Arabic language voice acting and dubbing for two iconic Muppet characters in the international distribution of the world-renowned Sesame Street show. He voiced the lead Muppet characters of Ernie and Grover. The Jordanian version of Sesame Street is Hikayat Simsim. He voiced and performed the lead Muppet character, Juljul. Ashraf has starred in many movies as well as written and acted in numerous television series featured on Jordanian television. He is the star and host of a popular children's television show called Jeem Jawab. This show is broadcasted on Jeem TV (formerly Al Jazeera Children's Channel), a major Qatari television network, and is available online throughout the Middle East. He also stars and hosts Taxi Jeem on Jeem TV. In 2010 and 2011 he was cast as the leading role in two highly successful comedic television shows, Taymour and Ana Wa Ekhwaty that aired on Al-Jazeera, a major international television network available on cable in the Middle East and via satellite and online around the world. He has received much acclaim throughout the Arab world and has been frequently featured in major media around the Middle East.