Ekushey Padak-winning thespian and popular television actor Aly Zaker died on Friday morning while undergoing treatment at United Hospital in the capital. He was 75.

Confirming the matter Sammilita Sangskritik Jote president Ghulam Quddus said Aly Zaker breathed his last at 6:45am.

He was earlier admitted to Bangladesh Specialised Hospital. As his condition improved, he returned home on November 22.

He was taken to the United Hospital on Tuesday after his condition again worsened, Quddus said.

Aly Zaker was born on November 6, 1944 in Chattogram. He attended different schools at Feni, Khulna, and Kushtia until his family settled in Gendaria, Dhaka in 1954.

He then studied at St Gregory’s High School in Class IV.

Between 1972 and 2019, Aly Zaker directed 15 plays and acted in 31 theatre productions, including several productions that were box-office hits. Those include Sath Manusher Khonje, Kopenik-er Captain, Galileo, Nurul Diner Sarajiban, Macbeth, Achalayatan, and Dewan Gazir Kissa. His performances in the role of Nurul Din, Dewan Gazi, and Galileo earned huge acclaim.

He also adapted many plays of the popular western dramatists Moliere, Anton Chekov, William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Edward Albee, and Carl Zuckmayer.

He won several awards including National Academy of Performing Arts Award in 1977, Sequence Award of Merit in the category of outstanding theatre personality in 1984, and EkusheyPadak in 1999 for his contribution to the country’s theatre.

He also won Critics’ Circle of India Award for outstanding direction and acting in 1984 for his seminal contribution to the theatre in Bangladesh.