Sabu Dastagir

Sabu Dastagir Biography

Sabu Dastagir, better known by his screen name Sabu was one of the early Indian actors to work in Hollywood. His real name is Selar Sabu and was born in Mysore kingdom in year 1924. He has been featured in many British and US productions made during the period, 1930s and 1940s. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, which is indeed a great achievement for an Indian actor. He was only 39 when he passed away in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, on 2 December 1963. He died of a heart attack, a month before his 40th birthday.

Selar Sabu, better known as Sabu Dastagir or simply Sabu was born on 27 January 1924 in Karapur, Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore. He was born into a Muslim family and was the son of a mahout. As a child actor he got his first break through 1937 British adventure film - Elephant Boy, where he played the lead role. He was 13 years old when he appeared on screen for the first time. It was followed by 1940 British film, The Thief of Bagdad where he played the lead role aside Conrad Veidt. The movie’s success shot him to instant fame, and still now he is remembered by this movie.

Most of his films were based on adventurous stories written by renowned and international writers, and later he became a part of movies such as Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book where he played the lead character Mowgli, followed by Arabian Nights (1942), White Savage (1943) and Cobra Woman (1944). He went on to become one of the most popular and successful teenage actors of 1940s. His brother Shaik Dastagir who worked as his manager was killed in 1960 in a robbery of his furniture store. Sabu died three years later.

Published: June 05, 2019

Updated: June 05, 2019