Mohsen Mahdavi was born in Baku in 1925 and moved to Iran with his family in 1931.

Mahdavi is known for acting in movies such as The Nights of Tehran (1953), Morad and Laleh (1966), A Girl is going to Die Tonight (1969), Reza, the Motorcyclist (1970), The Window (1970), The Miserable One (1975), Separate beds (1968), The Magnificent Seven (1973). He was one of the leading Iranian actors of his time.

Mahdavi was known and loved by iranian people. His knowledge of English language also made him the best movie translator in Iranian cinema and television.

He had a doctorate in English from England and a bachelor's degree in music from the Conservatory of Rome, Italy, and was fluent in English, French and Russian.

Mahdavi started his career in the cinema by playing a supporting role in Masti-e Eshgh directed by Esmail Koushan in 1951 and in The Nights of Tehran by Siamak Yasami in 1953, he became an actor in Iranian cinema. After that, he appeared as Yousuf in another production by Siamak Yasami, Yousuf and Zuleikha in 1956.

In the same days, Setare Cinema magazine wrote that Mahdavi's gestures and movements remind the viewer of Gregory Peck's performance in the movie David and bathsheba. In the same year, Mahdavi played a different and somewhat complex role as a psychological criminal in the movie Seventeen Days to Execution by Dr. Houshang Kavousi.

He travelled to england in his younger years and was interviewed by In Town Tonight (a BBC radio programme that was broadcast on Saturday evening from 1933 to 1960). Also news papers called him Persia's Rudolf Valentino.

Mahdavi married Vartoush on his way back to Iran from England and had three sons. He acted in many movies as well as TV.

In 1979 he moved to England and for some time worked in BBC world service and theater. His sons Mehdi, Hossain and Reza live in England with their families. Mahdavi's wife Vartoush has great memories of their 47 year marriage and lives near their sons.