Bahram Beyzaie, one of the most influential figures in Iranian cinema, theatre, and literary scholarship, passed away in the United States on Friday, December 26, 2025, coinciding with his 87th birthday, according to a statement released by Stanford Iranian Studies, where he had been a professor and colleague for the past fifteen years.
In its official announcement, Stanford Iranian Studies described Beyzaie as a “towering figure of Iranian literature and art,” noting that he died on the fifth of Dey, a date officially recognized in Iran as Playwrights’ Day, named in honor of his birth and the death of renowned dramatist Akbar Radi.
The statement emphasized that Beyzaie often described his true home and calling as “the realm of culture.” It added that he held a profound love for Iran and, despite years of restrictions and pressures directed against him and his family, never ceased to promote, protect, and preserve Iran’s cultural heritage. The university announced that it will soon host a gathering to celebrate the life and works of the singular Iranian artist, scholar, and cultural figure.
The news of Beyzaie’s passing was also shared publicly by Mojdeh Shamsaie, his wife, long-time collaborator, and acclaimed theatre artist, whose support was acknowledged explicitly by Stanford Iranian Studies. In its statement, the institute expressed special gratitude to Shamsaie, noting that without her wisdom and empathy, Beyzaie’s life in recent years would have taken a very different course.
Born in 1938 in Tehran, Bahram Beyzaie was widely regarded as one of the architects of modern Iranian theatre and cinema. Though relatively limited in number, his works profoundly shaped narrative language, visual symbolism, and the integration of Iranian mythology, history, and folklore into contemporary dramatic forms.
His most celebrated films include Bashu, the Little Stranger, Death of Yazdgerd, Downpour, The Stranger and the Fog, Travellers, Killing Mad Dogs, and When Everyone Was Asleep. Alongside his cinematic legacy, Beyzaie authored dozens of influential plays such as Pahlevan Akbar Dies, Arash, and The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, many of which remain cornerstones of Iranian theatre.
In addition to his artistic practice, Beyzaie was a distinguished scholar whose research on mythology, the Shahnameh, traditional Iranian performance, and world theatre continues to serve as essential academic references.
In recent years, he lived and worked in what he himself described as exile, continuing his teaching, writing, and theatrical productions at Stanford University—projects he had long been unable to realize in Iran.
In the words of the Shahnameh, a text Beyzaie lived with throughout his life, as quoted in Stanford’s statement:
“If death is justice, then what is injustice?”
With his passing, Iranian culture loses one of its most independent, rigorous, and visionary voices—an artist whose legacy will continue to shape theatre, cinema, and cultural thought for generations to come.
