Faten Hamama facts for kids

Quick facts for kids ORE Faten Hamama
فاتن حمامة
Faten Hamama in 1950
Born	Faten Ahmed Hamama (1931-05-27)27 May 1931 Mansoura, Kingdom of Egypt
Died	17 January 2015(2015-01-17) (aged 83) Cairo, Egypt
Nationality	Egyptian
Other names	"The First Lady of Egyptian and Arabic Cinema"
Occupation	Actress film producer screenwriter
Years active	1940–2001
Spouse(s)	Ezz El-Dine Zulficar ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1954)​ Omar Sharif ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1974)​ Mohamed Abdel Wahab Mahmoud ​ ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	2
Relatives	Omar Sharif Jr. (grandson)
Honours	Order of the Republic - Grand Cordon

Faten Ahmed Hamama (Arabic: فاتن حمامه; 27 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was a famous Egyptian actress and film producer. She was known as "The First Lady of Egyptian and Arabic Cinema" because of her huge impact. She started acting when she was only seven years old.

Faten Hamama helped make the film industry in Egypt much better. She also showed how important women were in movies and in Egyptian society. In 2000, she was named "Star of the Century" by Egyptian writers and critics. Many of her films are considered among the best in Egyptian cinema history.

Early Life and First Roles

Hamama in her film debut, Happy Day (1940)

Faten Hamama was born in 1931 in Mansoura, Egypt. She had an older brother, Mounir, and two younger siblings, Layla and Mazhar. Faten loved acting from a very young age. When she was six, her father took her to see a movie. She felt like the audience was clapping for her!

When Faten won a children's beauty contest, her father sent her picture to director Mohamed Karim. He was looking for a young girl to act with the famous musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab in the film A Happy Day (1939). Faten got the role, and people started calling her "Egypt's own Shirley Temple." The director was so impressed that he signed a contract with her father.

Faten continued to act in films like Bullet in the Heart (1944) and Dunya (1946). After these successes, she moved to Cairo with her family. In 1946, she began studying at the High Institute of Acting.

Becoming a Star

Youssef Wahbi, a well-known Egyptian actor and director, saw Faten's talent. He gave her a main role in the 1946 film Angel of Mercy. Faten was only 15, but her dramatic acting made her very famous. She then starred in three more successful films with Wahbi in 1949.

The 1950s were a "golden age" for Egyptian movies, and Faten Hamama was a big part of it. In 1951, her film Your Day Will Come was nominated for an award at the Cannes Film Festival. She also starred in Struggle in the Valley (1954), which was also nominated at Cannes. Faten was also in the first Egyptian mystery film, House Number 13.

Hamama and Omar Sharif in a scene from the 1957 film Land of Peace

In 1959, she starred in the romantic movie Among the Ruins. In 1963, she won an award for her role in the political film No Time For Love. Faten even acted in a Hollywood crime film called Cairo in 1963.

Marriages and Film Partnerships

In 1947, Faten Hamama married director Ezz El-Dine Zulficar while they were filming Abu Zayd al-Hilali. They started a film company together. Their film Date with Life earned her the title "lady of the Arabic screen." They had a daughter named Nadia. They divorced in 1954 but remained friends, and Faten continued to act in his films.

Hamama and Salah Zulfikar in the premiere of Bain Al-Atlal at Cinema Diana in Cairo, February 1959

A year later, in 1955, Faten married Egyptian film star Omar Sharif. They met while filming Struggle in the Valley in 1954. Faten had never agreed to a kissing scene before, but she did with Omar. They fell in love, and Omar became a Muslim to marry her. This marriage led to many popular movies starring both of them, like Our Sweet Days and Land of Peace. They had a son named Tarek. They divorced in 1974.

Later Career and Impact

As Faten Hamama got older, she made fewer films, but they were still very successful. She also started acting in television shows. One of her first TV roles was in the mini-series Mrs. Hikmat's Conscience.

After 1993, she took a break from acting. She returned in 2000 with the popular TV mini-series Wajh al-Qamar (Face of the Moon). In this show, Faten played a role that criticized many problems in Egyptian society. The series was very popular and won the Best TV Series Award. Faten became the highest-paid actress in an Egyptian TV mini-series at that time.

Hamama, with Rushdy Abaza, in I Want a Solution (1974)

Early in her career, Faten often played weak or poor girls. But after the 1950s, she started choosing roles of strong, realistic women. For example, in Struggle in the Valley (1954), she played a rich girl who helped the poor. In Miss Fatmah (1952), she played a law student who believed women were as important as men.

Her most famous film was I Want a Solution (1974). This movie criticized the laws about marriage and divorce in Egypt. Because of this film, a law that made it hard for women to get a divorce was changed right away.

Many critics believe her most challenging role was in The Nightingale's Prayer (1959). This film is considered one of the best Egyptian movies ever. Faten played Amnah, a young woman seeking revenge for her sister. After this, Faten was very careful about the roles she chose.

Death and Tributes

Faten Hamama passed away on 17 January 2015, at the age of 83. Her son did not share the exact cause of her death.

Many people from the film industry and government leaders shared their sadness. The Egyptian president sent someone to her funeral and said she was a person of "high creative value." The Ministry of Culture announced two days of mourning. The head of the Arab League called her a "symbol of refined Egyptian and Arab art." Newspapers in Egypt honored her on their front pages.

Thousands of people attended her funeral, which was even shown live on TV. Many actors, actresses, and important figures were there. Her former husband, Omar Sharif, could not attend because he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Personal Life Details

Faten Hamama's first marriage was to director Ezz El-Dine Zulficar in 1947. They were married for seven years and had a daughter, Nadia. Even after their divorce in 1954, they remained good friends.

In 1954, Faten chose Omar Sharif to act with her in a film. They fell in love during filming and married. They had a son, Tarek Sharif. They also have two grandsons, Omar Sharif Jr. and Karem Sharif. Omar Sharif Jr. is now an actor in the U.S.

Faten later married Mohamed Abdel Wahab Mahmoud, an Egyptian doctor. They lived in Cairo until her death. Faten was also fluent in French and was a practicing Muslim.

Awards and Honours

I Want a Solution Press conference at the 3rd Tehran International Film Festival (1974). From right: Salah Zulfikar (Producer), Manuchehr Anwar, Faten Hamama, Said Mazrouk, Egyptian translator.

Faten Hamama received many awards for her acting throughout her career. In 1951, she won her first award for her role in I'm the Past. The Egyptian Ministry of Guidance named her Best Actress in 1955 and 1961.

She also won international awards, including special awards at the Tehran International Film Festival in 1972 and 1977. In 1973, she received a Special Award at the Moscow International Film Festival. She also won Best Actress awards at the Jakarta Film Festival in 1963 and the Carthage Film Festival in 1988.

Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser awarding Faten Hamama the Order of the Republic, 1965.

In 1984, Faten received the Lebanese Order of Merit. She was also given lifetime achievement awards at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in 1993 and the Dubai International Film Festival in 2009. In 2001, she was named "Star of the Century" at the Alexandria International Film Festival.

Other honours she received include:

• Decoration of Creativity of First Degree from Lebanese Prime Minister Prince Khaled Chehab (1953)
• Order of the Republic of First Degree for Art from Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1965)
• Decoration of the State of the First Order from Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (1976)
• Decoration of the Cedar from Lebanese President Émile Lahoud (2001)
• Decoration of Intellectual Competence from King Mohammed VI of Morocco (2001)
• In 2013, the American University of Beirut gave Faten Hamama an honorary doctorate. She said this award made her happy and would bring joy to all artists in Egypt and the Arab world.
• On 27 May 2016, Google Doodle celebrated Faten Hamama's 85th birthday.

Selected Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

See also

In Spanish: Faten Hamama para niños

• Bahiga Hafez
• Fatima Rushdi
• Nadia Lutfi
• Lists of Egyptians
• Top 100 Egyptian films
• Egyptian films of the 1950s
• Egyptian films of the 1960s