Sabah Qabbani began his career at Damascus Radio, where he rose to become director of programs. In this capacity he helped track down Arab talent and promote it through Syria. While working at radio, he discovered the voices of Egyptian singer Abdul Halim Hafez and the Lebanese diva Fairuz. Years later when becoming the first director of Syrian TV during the years of the Syrian Egyptian Union, he discovered the young actor Duraid Lahham, invited him to act, and teamed him with Nihad Quali, a pioneer of Syrian theatre, creating the duo "Duraid & Nihad" that was modeled after Laurel & Hardy. From the archive of Syrianhistory.com