Davood Ghadami (Persian: داوود قدمی; born 7 August 1982) is an English actor. Following his appearances in Taggart in 2010, he appeared in the BBC medical programmes Doctors and Casualty in recurring roles. In 2014, he began portraying the role of Kush Kazemi in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role he stayed in until 2021 when the character was killed off. Following Ghadami's departure from EastEnders, it was announced that he had joined the cast of the BBC medical drama Holby City as Eli Ebrahimi.

Davood Ghadami
Ghadami in 2016
Born (1982-08-07) 7 August 1982 (age 41)
Harlow, Essex, England
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present
Known for
Spouse
Isobel Ghadami
(m. 2010)
Children2

Early and personal life edit

Ghadami was born on 7 August 1982 in Harlow, Essex.[1] He is of Iranian and English heritage.[2] He found it difficult at school, since being mixed race led to verbal bullying.[1] He subsequently moved to Saint Nicholas School in Old Harlow. In 2010, Ghadami married long-term girlfriend Isobel; the pair have two daughters together.[1]

Career edit

In 2010, Ghadami portrayed the role of Duncan Clark in the final series of the ITV detective drama Taggart. He found the role challenging, since it involved looking at photos of genuine crime scenes.[1] Following this, he appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors in the recurring role of Aran Chandar from 2012 to 2013.[3]

From 2013 to 2014, he appeared in the BBC medical drama Casualty as Ramin Tehrani.[4] Other television credits include Life's Too Short, Law & Order, Skins Redux, Doctor Who, Top Boy, Fast Freddie, Silent Witness, Criminal Justice and Spooks.[1]

On stage, he has played Amir in 13 at The National, as well as working for York Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre.[5]

In 2014, Ghadami joined the cast of EastEnders as series regular Kush Kazemi,[6] for which he won the award for Best Newcomer at the TV Choice Awards. He was also nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Actor at the British Soap Awards.[7]

In August 2017, Ghadami was announced as a contestant for the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[8] He was partnered with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova.[9] They were eliminated in week 11 of the competition, in the quarter-finals.

In April 2021, it was announced that Ghadami had joined the cast of the BBC medical drama Holby City as Eli Ebrahimi.[5]

Filmography edit

Year Title Role Notes
2005 Casualty Mero Hashid 2 episodes
2005 The Bill Faz Episodes: "Confessions of a Killer" and "Inferno"
2006 Spooks Prince Wissam Episodes: "Hostage Takers: Parts 1 & 2"
2006 Dream Team Izmet Episode: "Trust"
2007 The Omid Djalili Show Mafia Guy 4 episodes
2009 Doctors Tariq Kalbasi 2 episodes
2009 Criminal Justice Josh Hughes Episode #2.2 and #2.3
2010 Bloody Foreigners Plautinianus Episode: "The Untold Invasion of Britain"
2010 Taggart Duncan Clark Series 27; 6 episodes
2011 Doctor Who Jim Episode: "Let's Kill Hitler"
2011 Top Boy Teacher Episode #1.3
2012–2013 Doctors Aran Chandar Recurring role
2013 Silent Witness Ali Kolathi Episodes: "Trust: Parts 1 and 2"
2013 Life's Too Short Waiter Episode: "Easter Special"
2013 Skins Raj Episodes: "Fire: Parts 1 & 2"
2013 Law & Order: UK Russell Episode: "Paternal"
2013–2014 Casualty Ramin Tehrani Recurring role
2014–2021 EastEnders Kush Kazemi Regular role
2015 Valentine's Kiss Greg TV mini-series; episode #1.1
2017 Strictly Come Dancing Himself Participant (series 15)
2020 EastEnders: Secrets from the Square Episode: "Martin and Kush"
2021–2022 Holby City Eli Ebrahimi Regular role
2023 Beyond Paradise Ben Tyler Episode #1.1
2023 Casualty Eli Ebrahimi Episode: "How to Save a Life"

Awards and nominations edit

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2015 2015 British Soap Awards Best Newcomer EastEnders Nominated [10]
2015 Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Male EastEnders Nominated [11]
2015 Inside Soap Awards Best Affair (with Lacey Turner) EastEnders Shortlisted [12]
2015 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Newcomer EastEnders Won [13]
2016 21st National Television Awards Serial Drama Performance EastEnders Nominated [14]
2016 2016 British Soap Awards Best Actor EastEnders Nominated [15]
2016 Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Male EastEnders Nominated [16]
2017 2017 British Soap Awards Best Actor EastEnders Nominated [17]
2017 Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Male EastEnders Won [18]
2018 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actor EastEnders Nominated [19]
2019 24th National Television Awards Serial Drama Performance EastEnders Nominated [20]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "10 totally true FACTS about... Davood Ghadami". Inside Soap. Hearst Magazines UK. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2021 – via Pressreader.
  2. ^ "Strictly's Davood Ghadami: I moved schools after bullying". 11 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Strange Romance". Doctors. 27 November 2013. BBC. BBC One.
  4. ^ Morris, Lauren (16 April 2021). "EastEnders' Davood Ghadami to join the cast of Holby City". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b Dainty, Sophie (16 April 2021). "EastEnders star Davood Ghadami is joining the cast of Holby City". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Davood Ghadami joins EastEnders cast as Kush!". BBC. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Davood Ghadami". BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Swapping Walford for the Waltz, Davood Ghadami joins Strictly". BBC. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Say hello to your Strictly 2017 couples!". BBC. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  10. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel; Dainty, Sophie (16 May 2015). "Who won at British Soap Awards 2015? See winners list in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  11. ^ Dainty, Sophie (14 July 2015). "Inside Soap Awards 2015 longlist revealed: Who's in line for Best Actor, Actress and Newcomer?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  12. ^ Sandwell, Ian (29 September 2015). "EastEnders and Emmerdale lead 'final four' shortlists for the Inside Soap Awards 2015". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  13. ^ Denham, Jess (8 September 2015). "TV Choice Awards 2015 winners list: Ant and Dec and Broadchurch triumph as Sheridan Smith pays tribute to Cilla Black". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  14. ^ "National Television Awards 2016 longlist nominees announced". BBC. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  15. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (4 April 2016). "British Soap Awards 2016 nominations: Which Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars are up?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  16. ^ Sandwell, Ian (21 June 2016). "Inside Soap Awards 2016 longlist revealed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  17. ^ Dainty, Sophie (18 April 2017). "British Soap Awards 2017: the longlist is revealed". Digital Spy.
  18. ^ Dainty, Sophie (6 November 2017). "Emmerdale wins best soap at the Inside Soap Awards for the third year running". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  19. ^ "TV Choice Awards". digitalspy.co.uk. 15 May 2018.
  20. ^ Harp, Justin (16 October 2018). "Here are all the nominees for the National TV Awards 2019, including Strictly, Doctor Who and Ant & Dec". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 January 2019.

External links edit