Faten Hamama, Egyptian Film Icon, Dies Aged 83
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, an Arab film icon and Omar Sharif's former wife, died Saturday at the age of 83, their son Tarek Sharif told AFP.
Hamama, who was less than 10 when she made her screen debut, appeared in almost 100 films and worked with masters of Egypt's massive film industry, including Youssef Chahine.
She often starred with Omar Sharif. Born a Christian, he converted to Islam to marry Hamama and described her as the only love of his life.
"The Lady of the Arabic screen," as she was known, suffered "a sudden health problem which led to her death," Egypt's official news agency MENA reported.
It said she had been hospitalized weeks earlier due to illness but had returned home.
A figure of the golden age of Egyptian cinema, Faten Hamama's career reached its pinnacle in the 1940s and 1950s.
She starred in romantic movies alongside the famed Arab crooner Abdel Halim Hafez as well as in films advocating women rights and condemning social injustices.
18 January 2015, 07:43
32
I wonder how you are and what you and your 50 aliases are doing dear flamethrower as you rest in pieces and tranquility at your final destination.
18 January 2015, 11:39
21
God rest her soul!
Faten Hamama's culture and class represents a bygone era of hope in the Arab world.
The Arab world was independent and full of hope for a better future.
In the early 50s, we still considered the US as a just ally and anti-colonial power.
The US had stood up to Great Britain, France and Israel in 1956, in favour of Egypt. Justice meant something back then.
But things got worse and defeat after defeat brought the worst kind of Arab regimes into power, backed by either the US and USSR.
And then the US started using Islamists against Soviet influence in Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
They planted the seed of today's horror show and they continued nurturing it by their unjust and crazy support of Israel, their invasion of Iraq and their dabbling with Islamists during the Arab revolts.
18 January 2015, 11:40
21
God rest her soul!
Faten Hamama's culture and class represents a bygone era of hope in the Arab world.
The Arab world was independent and full of hope for a better future.
In the early 50s, we still considered the US as a just ally and anti-colonial power.
The US had stood up to Great Britain, France and Israel in 1956, in favour of Egypt. Justice meant something back then.
But things got worse and defeat after defeat brought the worst kind of Arab regimes into power, backed by either the US and USSR.
And then the US started using Islamists against Soviet influence in Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
They planted the seed of today's horror show and they continued nurturing it by their unjust and crazy support of Israel, their invasion of Iraq and their dabbling with Islamists during the Arab revolts.
