Handsome and exotic-looking Oded Fehr first turned the heads of movie audiences in 1999 as the mysterious Ardeth Bey, keeper of the secret of The Mummy in Stephen Sommers’ updating of the classic Universal horror film. After its worldwide box office success, Fehr worked steadily on American television in series like “UC: Undercover” (NBC, 2001-2002) and Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell” (2005-2006), adding an international flavor to the cast of each show.
Born Nov. 23, 1970 in Tel Aviv, Israel, Fehr’s German father was a scientist who relocated the family (which included an older brother and sister) to Israel after working in the United States. Fehr’s parents split when he was 15, but he remained in Israel with his Dutch-Spanish mother and siblings while his father returned to Germany. He completed his compulsory service with the Israel Defense Force after high school and joined the Israeli Sea Corp from 1989 to 1992 – with his specialty reportedly being counter-intelligence – before relocating to Frankfort to spend time with his father. While there, he worked as security for Israel’s El Al Airlines and attended a local college, studying business administration with the intent of joining his father in a marketing and communications company.
But he lost interest in this career path after a very short time, picking up a new one in acting, after taking a course in English drama while in school. A role in a theatrical production of David Mamet’s “Sexual Perversity in Chicago” cemented his decision to become a performer. To his surprise, his scientifically-minded father supported the risky choice.
Fehr went to London to study acting at the Old Vic Theatre School, training there from 1994-97. While in London, he logged time in several stage productions and had supporting roles in UK television series like “The Knock” (ITV, 1994-2000), which focused on the lives of custom agents. Eventually, he worked his way up to theatrical films, starting with the UK thriller “Killer Net” in 1998. The following year, he played the international gigolo whom Rob Schneider is mistaken for while minding his house in the crude but successful “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” (1999). And the same year, he landed the role of Bey in “The Mummy” – a part which brought him his widest audience to date. Director Sommers was so impressed with Bey’s presence and performance that he rewrote the script’s conclusion so that the actor and character could return for the inevitable sequel.
Fehr logged time in small Arabic roles in two American TV miniseries – “Cleopatra” (1999) and “Arabian Nights” – before returning to play Bey again in the weak sequel “The Mummy Returns” (2001). Unfortunately, Fehr’s movie career stalled after this; his turn in the Western “Texas Rangers” (2001) went largely unnoticed due to distribution problems with the film, so he wisely shifted his attention to television, where he worked steadily for the next few years.
His first attempt at a network series came with “UC: Undercover,” an action-drama program about an elite team of federal agents who pursue criminals from within their operations. However, the series lasted only one season, leaving Fehr to jump to CBS to co-star with Blythe Danner and Dana Delaney in “Presidio Med” (2002-2003), a medical drama set in a San Francisco hospital. Despite the presence of “ER” (NBC, 1990- ) producer John Wells on its creative team, the show only aired 11 episodes before folding.
Fehr returned to the movies as a soldier betrayed by his own superiors during a zombie outbreak in “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004), the sequel to “Resident Evil” (2002), which was based on the popular video game. Fehr returned to television in 2004 with a recurring role on “Charmed” (The WB, 1998-2006) as Zankou, a powerful demon that fights with (and later against) the witches, played by series stars Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan. Fehr also lent his deep and distinctive voice to the venerable comic book character Dr. Fate on the animated series “Justice League” (Cartoon Network, 2001-04) and “Justice League Unlimited” (Cartoon Network, 2004-06).
Fehr reprised his “Deuce Bigalow” role in a cameo for the staggeringly crude sequel, “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” (2005) before taking the role of Faris al-Farik, a Muslim extremist who operates a terror cell in the United States in the critically lauded series “Sleeper Cell.” That same year, he also provided the voice of a character in the video game “Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest,” and co-starred as a wealthy Arab prince who sponsors the underdog horse “Dreamer” (2005) in the family film with Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell. In 2007, Fehr returned to the “Resident Evil” franchise for its third film, “Resident Evil: Extinction,” this time helmed by director Russell Mulcahy.