Sarky Mouradian, an Armenian writer-director who also hosted a U.S. TV series in which he interviewed celebrity countrymen, has died. He was 90.
The Armenian Film Society said he died February 10 in Los Angeles, where he’d been based for decades.
Born on November 15, 1931, in Beirut, Mouradian began performing music at the age of 16. In 1955, he moved to Boston to continue his education in music then relocated to Los Angeles in 1960 to pursue his passion for film. There he attended the Theater of Arts and began working in the industry.
Sarky Mouradian, left, interviews Charles Aznavour on ‘Armenian Timeline’Armenian Television via YouTube
He wrote and directed such films as Sons of Sassoun (1973), Tears of Happiness (1975), Promise of Love (1978) and Alicia (2002). Mouradian also successfully adapted Franz Werfel’s 1933 novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh into a feature film in 1982, after numerous unsuccessful attempts by filmmakers raning from Louis B. Mayer to Sylvester Stallone, the Armenian Film Society. The adaptation repeatedly was objected to by the Turkish government.
Known as “the Godfather of Armenian Television in the U.S,” Mouradian established one of the first Armenian TV shows in Los Angeles in 1978. Armenian Timeline featured interviews with various Armenian celebrity performers and politicians.
He continued his work in cultural preservation and documentation on YouTube, archiving decades of footage while producing original episodes of his popular show up until his passing.