Shohreh Aghdashloo ( Persian: شهره آغداشلو, born May 11, 1952) is an Oscar nominated, Emmy winning Iranian-American actress.

Early life

Aghdashloo was born in Tehran, Iran as Pari Vaziri-Tabar ("Aghdashloo" is the family name of her former husband, famous Iranian painter Aydin Aghdashloo), to a wealthy secular Shiite Muslim family. Aghdashloo started acting at the age of 20. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she was offered her first film role in Gozāresh (The Report) directed by renowned director Abbas Kiarostami, which won the Critics Award at the Moscow Film Festival. Her next film was Shatranje Baad (loosely translated: Chess With The Wind), directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani which screened at several film festivals. Both films were banned in her home country, but in 1978, Aghdashloo won acclaim for her performance in Sooteh Delan (Broken Hearts), directed by the late Iranian filmmaker Ali Hatami which established her as one of Iran's leading actresses.