Legendary Egyptian film and television icon Faten Hamama would have turned 85 Friday and its no surprise to see Google doodling a reminder of her incredible work.
Born in 1931, Hamama claimed to have been born in the Abdeen quarter of Cairo although her birth certificate says otherwise. Her talent on screen was definitely something she had inside her since she was a little girl. Being influenced by Assia Dagher as a child, her father took her to see a film by Dagher when she was six years old, and that's when she knew she wanted to be a person people applauded for.
She had the opportunity as a child to play various roles in films with the famous actor and musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab including "Yawm Said," "Rossassa Fel Qalb" and "Dunya."
After these films proved to be a success, Hamama moved to Cairo with her parents to pursue her studies at the High Institute of Acting in 1946.
Hamama's success in the film and television industry is truly legendary.
In 1952, Hamama starred in the film Lak Yawm Ya Zalem (Your Day Will Come), which was nominated at the Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award!
The film was also presented at the Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1954, Youssef Chahine brought Hamama and Omar Sharif together, offering Sharif the role in the film "Struggle in the Valley." They fell in love and got married!
The couple ended up making numerous films together including "Ayyamna Al-Holwa" (Our Sweet Days), "Ardh Al-Salam" (Land of Peace), "La Anam" (Sleepless) and "Sayyidat Al-Qasr" (The Lady of the Palace). Their last film together before their divorce, was "Nahr Al-Hob" (The River of Love) in 1960.
After leaving Egypt in 1966, then President Gamal Abdel Nasser asked famous writers and journalists to convince her to come back to Egypt... calling her a "national treasure"
In 1965, Nasser awarded Hamama the Decoration of the Republic of First Degree for Art.
Hamama received numerous awards in her lifetime at international events including the Tehran Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival, the Carthage Film Festival and many others!
Hamama died on January 17, 2015 due to health problems.