Kevork Malikyan

Career

During his career, Malikyan has worked with many directors and actors including Steven Spielberg, Roger Moore, Alan Parker, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Caine and Anthony Hopkins. In addition to film work, he has appeared in numerous television productions, including episodes of The Saint, The Professionals, Mind Your Language, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, The Avengers, Doctor Who and twice in Minder.

Malikyan played a number of roles in the RSC production, Arabian Nights (December 2009 — January 2010), at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.

Background

Malikyan, who is of Armenian descent, was born in Diyarbakır, Turkey. When Malikyan was 10 years old, an archbishop decided to open a religious seminary in Üsküdar, İstanbul, with the intention of taking in the poor children of Armenian parents from various parts of Turkey and bringing them up as priests. Malikyan was questioned by a priest who wanted to determine whether or not he was a good candidate for the priesthood. His father told him to go to the seminary because he couldn't afford to give him an education due to financial problems. Though Malikyan was worried because he had no friends in İstanbul and had to leave his parents behind, he went to the city to become a priest.

Malikyan was sent to the Karagözyan Orphanage in Şişli where he spent two years before attending the religious seminary in Üsküdar. In the seminary, there was a small stage where the students acted in Turkish and Armenian. When he was 16, an Anglican priest was invited to the school to teach them English. He was an Oxford graduate who wrote history books. The man was also fond of acting and had prepared Richard III by Shakespeare in English, wherein Malikyan played Richard. The priest must have liked Malikyan's acting, because he told the headmaster of the school that Malikyan should become an actor rather than a priest. The patriarch asked Malikyan his opinion on the matter, but Malikyan was unsure because of financial concerns. Father Harding, a British priest, found him a scholarship in Britain.

Malikyan graduated from the Surp Haç Armenian High School in İstanbul, then moved to London in 1963 for acting education graduating from the prestigious drama school Rose Bruford College. and received diplomas for acting and teaching from the school. Now he lives in İstanbul, where he also works as a teacher.

Television