Jamshid Zokirov

Jamshid Karimovich Zokirov (Zakirov) was born on 11 July 1948 in Tashkent into the family of the Uzbek operatic singer Karim Zokirov. His brothers, the pop singer Botir Zokirov and Farrux Zokirov, artistic director of the band Yalla, also chose careers in the arts.

He first studied at an acting workshop attached to Uzbekfilm, then at the Ostrovsky Tashkent Theatre and Art Institute, graduating in 1971.

From 1971 he was an actor of the Hamza Theatre, now the Uzbek National Academic Drama Theatre, and also appeared on the stage of the Academic Russian Drama Theatre of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. His stage roles included Albert (“Oqshomdan tushgacha”), Farhod (“Kuzning birinchi kuni”), Xolmat (“Boy ila xizmatchi”) and Stepan (“Mardikor”); he also took part in “A Night in Venice”.

He came to cinema in 1969 with an episode in “The Street of Thirteen Poplars”. He later appeared in “The Rebellion of the Brides” (1985), “The Embrace of a Dream” (1986), “The Iron Woman” (1990) and “Along the Water” (2009), played Sharif Nomozov in “Shaytanat”, and in 2011 the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan in “Vysotsky. Thank You for Being Alive”. He also worked as a television presenter.

In 1995 he was named Honoured Artist of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and in 2010 he received the Ilkhom Prize named after Mark Weil for his contribution to the arts. His wife is the People’s Artist of Uzbekistan Gavhar Zokirova; their son Javohir Zokirov is an actor and director.

Jamshid Zokirov died in Tashkent on 7 April 2012 after a long illness. On 28 May 2026 he was posthumously awarded the Order “Mehnat shuhrati” by decree of the President.