Who Was That Guy Anthony Quinn Played in Lawrence of Arabia?

I carry twenty-three great wounds, all got in battle. Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemies' tents. I take away their flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure, yet I am poor! Because I am a river to my people!

Anthony Quinn managed to steal every scene in which he appeared in Lawrence of Arabia, but given his character's actual contribution to the Arab Revolt, he probably got too little screen time in the epic movie.

Auda Abu Tayeh (1874-1924) was the leader (shaikh) of a section of the Howeitat or Huwaytat tribe of Bedouin Arabs at the time of the Great Arab Revolt during the First World War. Nicknamed the Commander of the People or the Desert Falcon, he is considered a national hero in Jordan. In truth, his contributions to the Arab Revolt were probably under-represented in the film. Furthermore, the Arab world considered him an honorable and generous man who was misrepresented in both T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom and David Lean's great film as a conniving and devious man.

Many considered Auda the real hero of the Arab Revolt. Lawrence described him as the "greatest fighting man in northern Arabia." Auda could trace his roots back through many generations of great desert Howeitat warriors of the Arabian peninsula. He epitomized everything noble, powerful, and proud about the Bedouin. 

Lawrence wrote of Auda that "he saw life as a saga, all the events in it were significant: all personages in contact with him heroic, his mind was stored with poems of old raids and epic tales of fights." As was customary in the desert, Auda was known for his sweeping hospitality and generosity that "kept him always poor, despite the profits of a hundred raids."

He married 28 times and was wounded more than a dozen times in action. Legend had it that he had killed 75 Arabs by his own hand; he didn't even bother to keep count of the Turks. In battle, Auda became a wild beast calmed only after he had killed. He was hot-headed but always kept a smile on his face. Despite his fierce reputation, he was described as modest, direct, honest, kindhearted, and warmly loved.

Auda Abu Tayeh

Auda lived in the desert near the Hejaz Railway. He preferred the isolation—and isolation became necessary when he killed one too many debt collectors from Constantinople and the Turks put a price on his head. These desert landscapes were the exact areas Feisal and Lawrence needed to operate in to avoid close attention from the Turks. "Only by means of Auda abu Tayi," wrote Lawrence, "could we swing the tribes from Maan to Aqaba so violently in our favour that they would help us take Aqaba and its hills from their Turkish garrisons."

Auda's tribesmen were reputedly the finest fighters in the desert, which is why his support and assistance were vital to the Arab Revolt. With the incentives of kicking the Turks out of Arabia—and the lure of gold and booty—Auda joined the revolt. He was repeatedly approached by the Turks with further financial inducements if he would switch to their side, but he refused to go back on his word. He was a loyal Arab and rode with Lawrence, proving instrumental in the capture of Aqaba.

The great warrior was by Lawrence's side when they entered Damascus. The crowds, yelling, dancing, and firing volleys into the air, cheered Auda and Lawrence, covering them in flowers and kisses. In the final days of the war,  he also captured Aleppo.

After the war, Auda returned to his hometown of el-Jefer to build himself a great kasr (palace) of mud brick using Turkish prisoner labor. His golden years were short; years of hard riding and fighting finally caught up with Auda, who passed away in 1924.