Moin Akhter (also: "معین اختر" Moin Akhtar), (24 December 1950 – 22 April 2011) was a Pakistani television, film and stage artist, humorist, comedian, impersonator, host, writer, singer, director and producer who rose to fame in the era of Radio Pakistan along with his co-actors Anwer Maqsood and Bushra Ansari. He became an icon through his screen persona "Rosy" and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry of the sub continent. His career spanned more than 45 years, from childhood in the Radio Pakistan era of modern film making until a year before his death in 2011.^[3]

Akhter was born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. His father, Muhammad Ibrahim Mehboob, who died a few months after Akhtar, at the age of 92, was born in Muradabad, in the modern-day state of Uttar Pradesh in India, and after settling in Karachi as a result of the Partition, "passed his life in his own printing press and as a contractor in the garments business."^[4] Akhter was fluent in several languages, including English, Bengali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Memoni, Pashto, Gujarati and Urdu.^[5]

Akhter started his acting career as child actor at the age of 13.

He played the character of Shylock in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in theatre.^[6]

Akhter's sense of humour was highly dynamic and versatile.

He made his television debut on 6 September 1966, in a variety show on Pakistan Television (PTV) to celebrate the first Defence Day of Pakistan.^[6] He started as a stand-up comedian in 1966 by impersonating the Hollywood actor Anthony Quinn and mimicked one of the former president John F Kennedy’s speeches. He has performed several roles in television stage shows, later teamed with Anwar Maqsood and Bushra Ansari.^[2]

Akhter rose to the national spotlight and gathered critical acclaim for his performance in the drama Rosy, in which he played the role of a female TV artist. Rosy was an Urdu adaptation of the Hollywood movie Tootsie starring Dustin Hoffman. He called it one of his favourite on-screen characters that he had played.^[1]

In the talk-show Loose Talk, which began in 1995 on ARY Digital, he appeared as a different character in each episode with a total of over 400 episodes interviewed by the TV host Anwar Maqsood, who was also the writer of the programme. Akhter also briefly hosted the game show Kya Aap Banaingay Crorepati?, the Pakistani version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. He hosted shows involving major personalities and performed on stage alongside Indian legends including Dilip Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Madhuri Dixit.^[2]

Akhter acted in several films, sitcoms and dramas, and hosted many TV talk shows, including:^[6]

He hosted shows with invited dignitaries including King Husain of Jordan, Prime Minister of Gambia Dawoodi Al-Joza, Presidents Zia-ul-Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, General Yahya Khan and Pervez Musharaf (Akhter mimicked the president in his presence), Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the legendary Indian film actor Dilip Kumar.

He died on 22 April 2011 at about 4:30pm in Karachi after suffering a heart attack.

He was survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons.^[1] Funeral prayers for Akhter were offered in Tauheed Masjid near his residence.

Thousands of people attended the funeral prayer which was led by Junaid Jamshed.^[7]

The world-famous wax museum Madame Tussauds has expressed a wish to include a waxwork of Moin Akhter in its London museum.^[8] If the statue is eventually made, it will be the first of its kind for any Pakistani entertainer.^[1]