Professor Andoheb

Publication history

Andoheb first appeared in the 1940 Universal film The Mummy’s Hand, played by horror film legend George Zucco. He also appears in the next two films, The Mummy’s Tomb and The Mummy’s Ghost, as a mentor to two new villains, one of whom is named Mehemet Bey. In the 1959 Hammer film The Mummy, which draws on elements from all of Universal’s mummy films, the evil high priest character (played by George Pastell) is named Mehemet Bey, but clearly patterned after Andoheb.

Biography (film)

The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

To all appearances, Professor Andoheb of the Cairo museum was a kindly man who was quick to help people discover whether Egyptian antiques were real or not, and tolerated being nicknamed “Professor Andy”.

In reality though, Andoheb was a raving mad sociopath with a lust for power. He became a member of the dying cult of Karnak in order to learn black magic secrets, particularly the life-prolonging effects of Tana leaves. When the old priest died, Andoheb was promoted his successor. It would be his job to guard the tomb of the dead Princess Ananka, and to control the mummy known as Kharis.

Two men who regarded Andoheb as a friend were two former students of his who were now struggling archaeologists; Steve Banning and his sidekick “Babe” Jensen. When the two discovered a map leading to Ananka’s tomb, Andoheb tried to dissuade them by saying it was a fake, but the two managed to talk a wealthy stage magician named Solvani and his daughter Marta into financing an expedition. Andoheb then brought Kharis back to life, and had his manservant place vials of the Tana fluid in the tents of the expedition members so that Kharis would kill them one-by-one. Struck by Marta’s beauty, Andoheb had Kharis kidnap her and brought her to his temple, where he intended to make himself immortal, then force her to be his immortal bride as well. He was shot twice by Babe and tumbled down the steps of his own temple.

The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)

Apparently his experiments with Tana leaves prolonged his own life, and thirty years later, Andoheb was alive, but extremely aged and crippled. Fearing he would die soon without gaining his revenge on Banning and Jensen, Andoheb sent Kharis and his student Mehemet Bey to New England.

The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)

Andoheb finally died for good, and the cult split into two factions: The cult of Karnak and the cult of Arkim.

The Mummy (1959)

Mehemet Bey tried to dissuade the Bannings from finding the tomb of Ananka. Enraged when they did, he sent Kharis to England while posing as a diplomat named Mehemet Akir. However, when he ordered Kharis to kill John Banning’s wife who resembled Ananka, Kharis killed him instead.

Comics

Andoheb appears in Warren’s adaptation of The Mummy’s Hand in the second issue of Monster World. The Mehemet Bey version of the character appears in Hammer Halls of Horror in their adaptation of the 1959 film.