Pouri Baneai, born Seddigheh Banayi, was a renowned Iranian actress, born on October 11, 1940, in Arak, Iran. She spent her early years in Arak before moving to Tehran with her parents, where she was one of eight siblings, with seven sisters and one brother.
Pouri's acting career spanned over 15 years, during which she appeared in more than 85 Iranian feature films between 1965 and 1979. She worked with some of the most prominent Iranian directors of the time, including Mehdi Reisfirooz, Samuel Khachikian, Masoud Kimiai, Farrokh Ghaffari, and Fereidoun Gole. Her most memorable performances were in Iranian new wave films, such as Masoud Kimiai's Qeysar in 1969 and Fereydun Gole's The Mandrake.
Pouri's entry into the film industry was unconventional, as she did not have any formal education in acting. Her distant relative, director Nosratollah Vahdat, suggested she act in his film, The Foreign Bride, in 1965. She went on to co-star with Behrouz Vosoughi, a famous Iranian actor at the time, and they collaborated on many projects, including Qeysar, a landmark film in Iranian cinema.
Pouri's filmography includes a range of movies, from Farsi-language Iranian films to English-language foreign productions. Some of her notable films include Missile X: The Neutron Bomb Incident, The Moon and a Murmur, and The Invincible Six. She also appeared in the Japanese adaptation of the manga, Golgo 13, in 1973.
However, Pouri's life took a dramatic turn after the 1979 Iranian revolution. Many Iranian actors and actresses fled the country, but Pouri chose to stay behind. She was imprisoned in the Evin Detention House for over a year, and although she was released in 1980, she never returned to acting in films.
Pouri's personal life was also marked by her engagement to Behrouz Vosoughi, although they never officially married. One of her sisters, Aki Banayi, is a singer who currently resides in Los Angeles.
