Homayoun Ershadi

Homayoun Ershadi was born in Isfahan on 26 March 1947, and spent his adolescence in Karaj and Abadan. He moved to Italy to study architecture at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice in Venice, graduating in 1970. Ershadi initially worked in Iran as an architect, but relocated to Canada with his wife following the Iranian Revolution. He and his wife settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he continued work as an architect. Ershadi returned to Iran in 1990 after he and his wife filed for divorce.

Following Ershadi's return to Iran, he settled in Tehran. Ershadi was discovered by director Abbas Kiarostami, while sitting in his car in traffic. Kiarostami approached him and requested him to play the leading role of his film, Taste of Cherry. In 2007, he was cast in The Kite Runner, a film about two young boys growing up in Afghanistan.

Ershadi's two children live in Vancouver, a place he visited often to see his grandchildren. Ershadi died from cancer in Iran on 11 November 2025, at the age of 78. He was buried at the Behesht-e Sakineh in Karaj.

The short story "Seeing Ershadi" by Nicole Krauss was published in The New Yorker on 5 March 2018. It is about a ballet dancer who watches a film featuring Ershadi and then becomes obsessed with his face.