A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND actor with no legs has won rave reviews—for playing Hamlet!
Valiant Nabil Shaban overcame his disability to rival such outstanding previous stars as Lord Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.
And his triumph follows the misery of being dropped from a children's TV series—because of the way he looks.
Nabil, 35, says:
There's no reason by Hamlet should not be disabled.
I suppose it sounds extraordinary because everyone expects him to be blond, blue eyed and dashing.
GIGGLING
But that was a good reason for my taking the part on. Nobody was giggling in the stalls. I've felt a great response from the audience.
This was the greatest moment of any career. It was a major breakthrough for disabled actors.
I'm almost always being seen as either demented or frightening.
Nabil, who was born deformed and has a brittle bone disease, built up a huge TV following when he played a villainous, slimy, green slug in BBC's Dr Who.
FIRED
But earlier this year he was fired from the ITV children's series Erasmus Microman because bosses thought his appearance would scare kids off.
Nevertheless he astonished Shakespeare buffs with his modern interpretation of Hamlet at Stepney's Half Moon Theatre in London.
He even fenced with other actors.
Nabil, of Aldershot, Hampshire, is sharing his joy with tragic girlfriend Tina Leslie, 31, who is waiting for major plastic surgery on hideous face burns she received as a baby.
Tina, 31, who also lost both her hands in the accident, says: "Having Nabil is an enormous help, but we aren't thinking about marriage.
Captions: WINNING THROUGH: Brave wheelchair-bound Habit in his role as Hamlet
TINA: Handicapped lover
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