Mohammed El-Bakkar

Muhammed al-Bakkar (1913 Beirut, Lebanon - 1959 Rhode Island, USA) was a noted Lebanese tenor and oud player that appeared in several Arabic-language films before he moved to the United States in 1952. There he lived in Brooklyn and released several LPs of Arabic music. He also played a singing Oriental rug salesman in the Broadway musical Fanny, in the Oriental bazaar scene; the production ran from 1954 to 1956. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 8, 1959, at the age of 46, after collapsing while performing at an annual Lebanese American festival in Lincoln, Rhode Island.