Soad Hosny

Soad Hosny (26 January 1943 – 21 June 2001) was an Egyptian actress often called the "Cinderella of the Screen." She is remembered as one of the most influential performers in the Middle East and the Arab world, and is widely considered one of Egypt’s most iconic female stars of the 20th century. Over a career that ran from 1959 to 1991, she appeared in 83 films, playing lead roles for many of the country’s top directors and earning numerous national and international awards.

Hosny was born in Cairo’s Boulaq district into an artistic family. Her father, Mohamed Hosni, was a celebrated Egyptian calligrapher. Her half-sister was the singer Nagat El-Sagheera. As a young child, she worked on Egyptian radio with the popular children’s host Baba Sharo. She was introduced to the film industry by Abdel Rahman El Khamisi. Her film debut came in *Hassan and Naima* (1959), and she quickly became a star by the end of the 1950s. Nine of her films are counted among the greatest 100 films in Egyptian cinema history.

Most of her films were made in the 1960s and 1970s. Notable works include *Money and Women* (1960), *A Date at the Tower* (1962), *Too Young for Love* (1966), *Cairo 30* (1966), *The Second Wife* (1967), *Sunset and Sunrise* (1970), *The Choice* (1971), *Those People of the Nile* (1972), *Where is My Mind?* (1974), *Amira, My Love* (1974), *Whom Should We Shoot?* (1975), *Karnak* (1975), *Shafika and Metwali* (1979), *The Savage* (1979), *People on the Top* (1981), *A Dinner Date* (1981), *Al Qadisiyya* (1981), *A Stranger in My House* (1982), *Love in a Jail Cell* (1983), and *The Hunger* (1986). Her 1972 film *Watch Out For Zouzou* is widely considered her most famous; many fans called her “Zouzou” after her character. Her final screen role was in *The Shepherd and the Women* (1991), directed by her ex-husband Ali Badrakhan.

Hosny was born to Mohammad Hosni, a renowned calligrapher, and Gawhara Mohamed Hassan Saffour, a housewife. Her parents divorced, and her mother married Abdul Monem Hafeez, with whom she had six more children. This gave Soad and her two sisters at least 14 half-siblings. Her father’s home was known as “the artists’ home,” as leading artists from across the Arab world visited for lessons and socializing with the master calligrapher. Her father also produced frames for silent movies and book covers, and was well known in the artistic community. Several of his children became performers. Soad’s half-sister Nagat was an actress and singer. Her half-brother Ezz Eddin Hosni (1927–2013) was a composer who taught Soad and Nagat music and singing. Another sibling, Sami Hosni, became a cello player, jewelry designer, and calligrapher. Yet another brother, Farooq, was a painter, and his daughter Samira also became an actress.

At age three, Hosny began her career singing on the popular Egyptian children’s TV program *Papa Sharo*, hosted by Mohamed Shaaban. Her work ranged from light comedies and romances to political satire. She acted alongside major Egyptian stars such as Omar Sharif, Salah Zulfikar, Rushdy Abaza, and Shoukry Sarhan. In the early 1960s, she starred in *A Rumor of Love* (1960) with Omar Sharif and Youssef Wahbi, as well as *Mafish Tafahom* (1961), *El-Do' el-Khaft* (1961), and *El-Saferia Aziza* (1961) with Shoukry Sarhan. She was paired with Ahmed Mazhar in *El-garema el-Dahka* (1963). Other key credits include *Money and Women* (1960) opposite Salah Zulfikar, and *A Date at the Tower* (1962) directed by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar. In 1964, she starred with Nadia Lutfi in Mahmoud Zulfikar’s *For Men Only*, playing a girl disguised as a man to work on an oil exploration project; the film was a box office hit. In 1966, she appeared in ten films, including *Mabka el-Oshak*, *His Excellency*, *The Ambassador*, *El-Talata Yhbonha*, and *Leilat El Zefaf*. That same year, she starred in *Too Young for Love* (1966) with Rushdy Abaza.

In 1970, she appeared with Salah Zulfikar and Rushdy Abaza in Kamal El Sheikh’s political film *Sunset and Sunrise* (1970). She worked twice with director Youssef Chahine: first in *The Choice* (1970), and then in *Those People of the Nile* (1972), where she was paired with Salah Zulfikar for the fourth time. One of her most famous roles was a college student in love with her professor in Hassan El Imam’s *Watch Out for ZouZou* (1972). In 1974, she starred in Kamal El Sheikh’s *Whom Should We Shoot?* (1974) with Mahmoud Yassin, and also shared the lead with him in *Where is My Mind?* (1974). Her next role was a student and political activist tortured in *Karnak* (1975), based on Naguib Mahfouz’s novel.

In *Shafika and Metwali* (1979) with Ahmed Zaki and *People on the Top* (1981) with Nour El-Sherif, she turned musical numbers into sharp satires that gave voice to the oppressed. Because of these and other politically charged roles, she was seen as part of the intelligentsia. She also starred in *A Dinner Date* (1981), *Al Qadisiyya* (1981), *The Suspect* (1981), *A Stranger in My House* (1982), and *Love in a Jail Cell* (1983).