Soad Hosni

Soad Hosni
Soad Hosni (1979)
Native name	سعاد حسني
Born	Soad Muhammad Kamal Hosni Al Baba (1942-01-26)January 26, 1942 Bulaq, Cairo, Egypt
Died	London, England, UK
Occupation	Actress, singer

Soad Hosni (Arabic: سعاد حسني‎‎‎; January 26, 1942 – June 21, 2001) was an Egyptian actress and singer born in Cairo. Hosni was known as the "Cinderella of Egyptian cinema" and one of the most influential actresses in the Middle East. She starred in 83 films between 1959 and 1991; about seventy of her films were shot in the 1960s and 1970s

Early life

Soad was one of three sisters (Kawther, Soad, Sabah) born to Mohammad Hosni and his second wife, Jawahara Mohammad Hassan. She also had eight half-siblings from her father first marriage (four boys: Ezz Eddin, Nabil, Farooq and Sami, and four girls: Khadija, Samira, Najat herself, Afaf). Her parents divorced and her mother remarried, to Abdul Monem Hafedh, with whom she had another six children (three boys: Jaheer, Jaser, Jalaa and three girls: Jehan, Janjah, Jeely), thus giving Soad and her two sisters 14 half-siblings (8 from her father side and 6 from her mother side). Soad therefore is the 10th in-line of a grand total of 17 brothers and sisters

As a young teenager, after her parents’ divorce, Soad lived briefly with her half-sister Najat Al Saghira (born 1938) then with her half-brother Ezz Eddin Hosni (1927 – 2013). Thereafter, at the age of 15 she was living with her mother in a Cairo neighbourhood called Shobra, by then divorced from her father, and her stepfather.

Home of Artists

Soad Hosni was born into an artistic family. The household of her father was known as “the home of the Artists”. His son Ezz Eddin, a music composer, taught his sister Najat music and singing. His other son Sami Hosni is a Cello player, jewellery designer and also calligrapher.

Her father Mohammad Hosni was a calligrapher, Syrian of Kurdish roots (within Al Baba clan).

Both Soad Hosni and Najat Al Saghira one of Hosni's half-siblings, became super-stars in the Arab World in the arts of acting and singing.

Najat Al Saghira, was a child-star who started singing at the age of 5 years in the early 1940s and continued to be a great success. Soad also began her career at the age of three in 1946 on a children Radio program and thus she was also child-star. This radio program, called The Children’s Corner, was broadcast by Mohamed Mahmoud Shaaban, known as Baba Sharoo, and in it she sang her famous song “I am Soad, sister to the moon, my beauty recognised by all” before reaching the age of 7. Soad did not continue and starred her first film later at the age of 15 years.

Career

In 1950s, Soad step father treated Soad well, but at the time, he was conservative and refused to send her to school.

In 1957, family friend Abdel-Rahman Al-Khamisi wanted Soad, at the age 15 years, to play Ophelia in a production of “Hamlet” he was directing. It was difficult for her, she wasn't able to recite Shakespeare well, and she would weep in frustration. But Al Khamisi sensed her acting talents and asked Ibrahim Saafan, an Arabic teacher and comedy actor, to teach her reading and writing and Anaam Salousa to give her oral acting performance lessons. However, this production was eventually canceled due to funding problems.

Thereafter, Mr Al-Khamisi persuaded film director Henry Barakat (1914– 1997) to test Soad for the star role of her first film “Na'ima and Hassan”. This film was based on a folk story the script of which was being written by Al-Khamisi himself. The test was successful, the film was released in 1959 and within 2 years she had starred in ten more films!

In 1972, Soad’s film “Watch out for Zouzou” was released to become the biggest box- office hit in Egyptian cinema to date!. This film was the longest running film in Egyptian cinemas, showing for over a year. Many and some would argue most, Egyptians know the film's songs by heart. Soad Hosni, until her last days in London, called herself "Zouzou”.

As can be seen from the list below, Soad starred in 83 films; a staggering number over a period of three decades all of which were successful at the box-office with the exception of one film titled “Third Class” in 1988.

In 1991, Soad made her last film “The Shepherd and the Women” (in Arabic: Al Ra'i We El Nissa) which was directed by her ex-husband Ali Badrkhan and thus retired from filming at the age of 48 years.

Soad Hosni is one of the most popular actresses in the history of Egyptian cinema. Film director Mohammad Khan wrote “She's a better actress than Marilyn Monroe, I think “.

Films

Soad Hosni starred 83 films as listed below under Filmograph, the following short list is among the most famous of her works ,

• 1960 Girls and Summer (story Ihsan Abdel-Quddous; co-star Abdel-Halim Hafiz).

• 1966 Cairo 1930 (Naguib Mahfouz's novel, co-star Ahmed Mazhar).

• 1966 Too Young for Love (co- star Rushdi Abaza).

• 1967 Marriage Modern Style (co- star Hassan Youssef).

• 1967 The Second Wife (co- star Shukri Sarhan) .

• 1969 Some suffering (co- stars Yehia Shahin and Hassan Youssef).

• 1970 Lost Love (story Taha Hussein;co-stars Rushdi Abaza and Zebida Tharwat).

• 1971 The Choice (co-star Ezzat El-Alayli).

• 1972 Watch out for Zouzou (co-star Hussein Fahmi).

• 1974 Where's My Mind? (Story Ihsan Abdel-Quddous; co-star Rushdi Abaza).

• 1975 Al-Karnack (Naguib Mahfouz's novel; co-star Nour El-Sherif).

• 1981 A Dinner Date (co- star Ahmed Zaki).

• 1983 Love in the Prison Cell (co- star Adel Imam).

• 1986 The Hunger (Naguib Mahfouz's novel; co- star Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz).

Awards

Soad was honoured and given prizes many times;

• 1968 Ministry of Culture Special Prize for her role in her 1967 film “The Second Wife”.

• 1971 Best Actress, First National Conference for the 1970 film “Sunset and Sunrise”.

• 1975 Best Actress, Film Society, for the 1974 film “Where’s My Mind?”.

• 1977 Film Society Second Conference for the 1975 film “Al-Karnack”.

• 1979 President Sadat awarded her Recognition Certificate for her distinguished role in the Arts.

Character and Popularity

On Soad’s real-life character, her eldest half-brother Ezzidin Hosni described her as “truthful, clear, frank and loves wellbeing to all others especially those who are close to her” and that “her wealth was for others and not for herself” in reference to her generosity. Egyptian actress Lubna Abdel Aziz (born 1935) wrote “It was more than her films that entranced and enraptured. Her beauty, as striking as it was dazzling, still had a soothing and personal quality, neither haughty nor forbidding. It exuded a sense of familiarity and accessibility ….Though illiterate until her twenties; she walked with princes and sat with kings. Her special magic that charmed intellectuals, philosophers, writers, was the very same magic that charmed the labourer, the farmer, the hired hand. She was everyone's star.“

Soad’s amazing popularity with millions of people across the Arab World has been and still is wide, varied and also covered the un-expected: here is a recent (in 2013; a dozen years after her passing-away) news-line: “An Iraqi woman asked her husband to divorce her after he insisted on naming his new-born daughter Soad, after famous Egyptian actress Soad Hosni. The wife was shocked that her husband collected pictures of the late actress, and was really jealous. Their families tried to convince her and change her mind, but there was no use”!

Soad Hosni was known for her glowing smile and irrepressible joie de vivre.

Marriages

Soad was married five times to ,

1. Singer Abdel-Halim Hafiz ( for 6 years, in early 1960s).

2. Cinematographer Salah Kurayem (for about 1 year, around 1968).

3. Film Director Ali Badrkhan (for 11 years from 1970 to 1981).

4. Film Director Zaki Fateen Abdul Wahab (for few months, in 1981).

5. Screenwriter Maher Awad (from 1987 till her death in 2001).

Her first marriage (to Abdel –Halim Hafiz) was at first rumoured, but music composure Kamadl Al-Taweel and writer Mohammad Fawzi confirmed it so did her half-sister Janja and her London dentist in TV interviews (available on YouTube). Also, Egyptian Al Ahram-online reported (in 2001) that in 1993 Soad gave an interview published in “Sabbah El-Kheir” magazine in which she said she had been secretly married to Halim for six years. Halim, at the time was 15 years older than her. He died in 1977 at the age of 48.

On Soad’s third marriage, Safynaz Kazem wrote in Al Ahram newspaper “Never had she appeared happier than during her relationship with Badrkhan. She enjoyed a simple lifestyle, far from the hullabaloo that usually surrounds movie stars and celebrities. She seemed to be in her element, quiet and composed amid the writers, poets and militant students that formed Badrkhan's social circle“.

Soad had no children; she was reported as saying "How could I have children when I am myself a child," in one of the rare interviews she gave in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, she wanted to be a mother as she had miscarriages when she was married to Ali Badrkhan. The Saudi Gazette reported that Soad’s sister, Janja, explained Soad got pregnant twice from her husband Ali Badrkhan but miscarried because of working herself too hard. She (Janja) said: “My sister loved children very much and wished to have her own child; her hobby was to buy children’s clothes and give them out as gifts.”.

Death

Image of Stewart Tower

In 2001, it was reported Soad Hosni died after throwing herself from balcony at Stuart Tower in London on June 21, 2001. This proposition was not readily accepted by some members of her family, Soad's close associates and several media outlets (several interviews and chat shows on this subject are available on YouTube); briefly

Soad Hosni came to London in 1997 to undergo treatment for back problems. Her last days in London were filled with loneliness and sorrow as she battled her disease in exile. She expressed faith, however, that she would get better and resume her acting career, which is one of the reasons why many do not believe she committed suicide. In 2011, Al Aram newspaper, reported that according to some accounts, eyewitnesses claim that falling out of the window was not the cause of her death and neighbours heard shouting before the incident.

In 2012, a formal legal complaint was lodged by Soad’s half-sister, Janja, who alleged that top Egyptian government officials had been behind Soad’s death. A year later, on 24 March 2013, the Judge announced the suspension of investigations into the 2001 death of Soad Hosni. He ruled that there was insufficient evidence to implicate former regime figures.

Her funeral in Cairo was attended by some 10,000 people. Soad had no children and left as her widower, her last husband, writer Maher Awad, whom she married in 1987 (as mentioned above).

Latest

In 2013, Lebanese filmmaker Rania Stephan used snippets from Soad Hosny’s films to re-tell the story of the cinematic icon and the history of Egyptian cinema in 'The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosny’. It was featured in Berlin’s Art Week.

In 2015, Soad’s half-sister Najat Al Saghira refused substantial monetary offers from TV channels for her participation in TV series proposal on Soad Hosni.

Soad Hosni's Filmography

Soad Hosni starred 83 films as listed below,

1959

• Hassan wa Na'ima (Hassan and Na'ima) scr Abdel-Rahman El-Khamissi; dir Henry Barakat; star Muharam Fouad and Mahmoud El-Sabaa.

1960

• Al-Banat wal-Sayf (Girls and Summer) Episode based on story by Ihsan Abdel-Quddous; scr Ali El-Zurqani; dir Fateen Abdel-Wahab; star Abdel-Halim Hafiz and Zizi El-Badrawi.
• Gharamiyat Imraa (A Woman's Affairs) scr and dir Tolba Radwan; star Kamal El-Shenawi.
• Isha'it Hobb (Love Rumour) dir Fateen Abdel-Wahab; star Omar Sherif, Hind Rustum and Youssef Wahbi.
• Mal wa Nisaa (Money and Women) dir Hassan El-Imam; star Youssef Wahbi and Salah Zulfiqar.

1961

• Aaz Al-Habayib (The Dearest Dear) dir Youssef Ma'louf; star Shukri Sarhan.
• Al-Dou' Al-Khafit (The Dim Light) dir Fateen Abdel-Wahab; star Ahmed Mazhar
• Hih 3 (H 3) scr and dir Abbas Kamel; star Rushdi Abaza.
• Limaza A'ish (Why Do I Live?) dir Ibrahim Imara; star Shukri Sarhan.
• Mafish Tafahum (No Compromise) dir Atef Salim; star Hassan Youssef.
• Al-Saba' Banat (The Seven Girls) dir Atef Salim; Star Nadia Lutfi and Ahmed Ramzi.
• Al-Safira Aziza (Aziza the Beautiful) scr Amin Youssef Ghorab; dir Tolba Radwan; star Shukri Sarhan and Abdel-Moneim Ibrahim.

1962

• Al-Ashqia' Al-Thalatha (The Three Desperadoes) scr and dir Hossameddin Mustafa; star Shukri Sarhan.
• Ghusn Al-Zaytoun (The Olives Branch) based on the novel by Mohamed Abdel-Halim Abdallah; dir Sayed Bedir; star Ahmed Mazhar.
• Maw'id fil-Burg (Date at the Gezira Tower) scr and dir Ezzeddin Zulfiqar; star Salah Zulfiqar.
• Min Gheir Mi'ad (Without Date) dir Ahmed Diaaeddin; star Muharam Fouad.
• Sira' maa Al-Mala'ika (Conflict with the Angels) scr and dir Hassan Tawfiq; star Hassan Youssef

1963

• 'Aailat Zizi (Zizi's Family) dir Fateen Abdel-Wahab; star Ahmed Ramzi and Fouad El-Mohandis.
• Al-'Aris Yasil Ghadan (The Groom Arrives Tomorrow) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Ahmed Ramzi and Fouad El-Mohandis.
• Al-Garima Al-Dahiqa (The Ludicrous Crime) dir Nagdi Hafiz; star Ahmed Mazhar and Abdel-Moneim Ibrahim.
• Al-Sahira Al-Saghira (The Little Witch) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Rushdi Abaza, Fouad El-Mohandis and Madiha Yusri.
• Shaqawat Banat (Girls' Naughtiness) dir Hossameddin Mustafa; star Ahmed Ramzi.
• Sirr Al-Hariba (The Escaping Girl's Secret) star Shukri Sarhan and Kamal El-Shenawi.

1964

• Awal Hobb (The First Love) scr and dir Abdel-Rahman Sherif; star Ahmed Ramzi.
• Hikayet Gawaz (A Marriage Tale) dir Hassan El-Seyfi; star Shukri Sarhan and Hassan Youssef.
• Li'bat Al-Hobb wal Gawaz (The Game of Love and Marriage) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Farid Shawqi.
• Al-Murahiqan (The Two Adolescents) dir Seifeddin Shawkat; star Emad Hamdi and Yehia Shahin.
• Lil Rigal Faqat (Exclusively for Men) dir Mahmoud Zulfiqar; star Nadia Lutfi, Hassan Youssef and Ihab Nafie.
• Ai-Tariq (The Path) based on Naguib Mahfouz's novel; dir Hossameddin Mustafa; star Rushdi Abaza.
• Al-Uzab Al-Thalatha (The Three Bachelors) dir Mahmoud Farid; star Hassan Youssef.

1965

• Al-Mughamiroun Al-Thalatha (The Three Adventurers) dir Hossameddin Mustafa; star Ahmed Ramzi, Hassan Youssef and Mohamed Awad.
• Al-Thalatha Yahibunaha (They Three Love Her) scr Amin Youssef Ghorab; dir Mahmoud Zulfiqar; star Hassan Youssef and Youssef Shaaban.

1966

• Faris Bani Himdan (Bani Himdan's Knight) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Farid Shawqi, Emad Hamdi, Mahmoud Mursi and Layla Fawzi.
• Ganab Al-Safir (His Excellency the Ambassador) dir Niazi Mustafa; Rushdi Abaza and Fouad El-Mohandis.
• Laylat Al-Zifaf (Wedding Night) story Tawfiq El-Hakim; scr Youssef Eissa; dir Henry Barakat; star Ahmed Mazhar and Ahmed Ramzi.
• Mabka Al-Ushaq (Lovers' Crying Place) dir Hassan El-Seyfi; star Rushdi Abaza.
• Al-Qahira Thalathin (Cairo 1930) based on Naguib Mahfouz's novel; dir Salah Abu Seif; star Ahmed Mazhar and Hamdi Ahmed.
• Saghira Ala Al-Hobb (Too Young for Love), dir Niazi Mustafa; star Rushdi Abaza.
• Shaqawat Rigala (Men's Naughtiness) dir Hossameddin Mustafa; star Ahmed Ramzi and Rushdi Abaza.

1967

• Al-Liqaa Al-Thani (Second Encounter) dir Hassan El-Seyfi; star Ahmed Mazhar.
• Shabab Magnoun Giddan (Very Crazy Youth) scr Abdel-Hayy Adib; dir Niazi Mustafa.
• Shaqit Al-Talaba (The Students' Flat) dir Tolba Radwan; star Ahmed Ramzi, Hassan Youssef and Mohamed Awad.
• Al-Zawag ala Al-Tariqa Al-Haditha (Marriage Modern Style) scr and dir Salah Karim; star Hassan Youssef and Abbas Faris.
• Al-Zawga Al-Thaniya (The Second Wife) scr Ahmed Rushdi Saleh, Saadeddin Wahba, Mohamed Mustafa Sami, Salah Abu Seif; dir Salah Abu Seif; star Shukri Sarhan, Salah Mansour and Sanaa Gamil.

1968

• Baba Ayiz Kida (That's How Daddy Wants It) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Rushdi Abaza.
• Hawaa wal Qird (Eve and the Monkey) dir Niazi Mustafa; star Mohamed Awad and Abdel-Moneim Madbouli.
• Helwa wa Shaqia (Pretty and Naughty) dir Eissa Karama; star Mohamed Awad and Mohamed Rida.
• Hikayet Thalath Banat (Three Girls' Story) dir Mahmoud Zulfiqar; star Hassan Youssef and Emad Hamdi.
• Nar Al-Hobb (Love's Fire) scr Rida Miyassar; dir Farouq Agrama; star Hassan Youssef.
• Al-Sit Al-Nazra (The Headmistress) dir Ahmed Diaaeddin; star Shukri Sarhan and Emad Hamdi.
• Al-Tilmiza wal Ustaz (The Student and the Master) dir Ahmed Diaaeddin; star Shukri Sarhan.

1969

• Bi'r Al-Hirman (Deprivation Well) based on Ihsan Abdel-Quddous's novel; dir Kamal El-Sheikh; star Mahmoud El-Meligui.
• Fatat Al-Isti'rad (Show Girl) dir Mahmoud Zulfiqar; star Hassan Youssef.
• Nadia story Youssef El-Seba'i; scr Ramadan Khalifa; dir Ahmed Badrakhan; star Ahmed Mazhar.
• Shi' min Al-Azaab (Some Suffering) scr Salah Abu Seif and Ahmed Ragab; dir Salah Abu Seif; star Yehia Shahin and Hassan Youssef.

1970

• Ghuroub wa Shirouq (Sunset and Sunrise) scr Raafat El-Mihi; dir Kamal El-Sheikh; star Rushdi Abaza and Mahmoud El-Meligui.
• Al-Hobb Al-Da'i' (Lost Love) story Taha Hussein; scr Youssef Gohar; dir Henry Barkat; star Rushdi Abaza and Zebida Tharwat.

1971

• Al-Ikhtiyar (The Choice) scr Naguib Mahfouz and Youssef Chahine; dir Youssef Chahine; star Ezzat El-Alayli, Mahmoud El-Meligui and Huda Sultan.
• Zawgati wal Kalb (My Wife and the Dog) scr and dir Said Marzouq; star Mahmoud Mursi and Nour El-Sherif.

1972

• Khalli Balak min Zouzou (Watch out for Zouzou) scr Salah Jahine; dir Hassan El-Imam; star Hussein Fahmi and Tahiya Caryoca.
• Al-Khawf (Fear) dir Said Marzouq; star Nour El-Sherif.
• Al-Nas wal Nil (Nile People) dir Youssef Chahine; star Salah Zulfiqar.

1973

• Ghurabaa (Strangers) scr Raafat El-Mihi; dir Saad Arafa; star Shukri Sarhan.
• Al-Hobb Alazi Kan (The Love that Once Was) scr Raafat El-Mihi; dir Ali Badrakhan; star Mahmoud Yassin and Ihab Nafie.

1974

• Ain Aqli? (Where's My Head?) story Ihsan Abdel-Quddous; scr Raafat El-Mihi; dir Atef Salem; star Rushdi Abaza and Mahmoud Yassin.
• Amira, Hobbi Ana (Amira, My Own Love) story Naguib Mahfouz; scr Salah Jahine and Mamdouh El-Lithi; dir Hassan El-Imam; star Hussein Fahmi.

1975

• Alaa Man Nutliq Al-Rasas (Whom Do We Shoot At?) scr Raafat El-Mihi; dir Kamal El-Sheikh; star Mahmoud Yassin.
• Al-Karnak based on Naguib Mahfouz's novel; dir Ali Badrakhan; star Nour El-Sherif and Kamal El-Shenawi.

1978

• Shafiqa wa Mitwali (Shafiqa and Mitwali) scr Salah Jahine; dir Ali Badrakhan; star Ahmed Zaki and Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.

1979

• Al-Mutawahisha (The Wild One) dir Samir Seif; star Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.

1981

• Ahl Al-Qima (People on Top) story Naguib Mahfouz; dir Ali Badrakhan; star Nour El-Sherif.
• Al-Mashbouh (Parole Suspect) scr Ibrahim El-Mougi; dir Samir Seif; star Adel Imam.
• Maw'id Ala Al-Ashaa (A Dinner Date) dir Mohamed Khan; star Ahmed Zaki and Hussein Fahmi.
• Al-Qadisiya dir Salah Abu Seif; star Ezzat El-Alayli.

1982

• Gharib fi Bayti (A Stranger in My House) dir Samir Seif; star Nour El-Sherif.

1983

• Hobb fil Zinzana (Love in the Prison Cell) scr Ibrahim El-Mougi; dir Mohamed Fadel; star Adel Imam and Gamil Ratib.

1986

• Al-Gou' (The Hunger) based on Naguib Mahfouz's novel; dir Ali Badrakhan; star Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz.
• Usfour min Al-Sharq (Sparrow from the East) dir Youssef Francis; star Nour El-Sherif.

1988

• Afghanistan Limaza? (Why Afghanistan?) dir Abdallah El-Musbahi; star Irene Papas.
• Al-Daraga Al-Thaltha (Third Class) scr Maher Awwad; dir Sherif Arafa; star Ahmed Zaki and Gamil Ratib.

1991

• Al-Ra'i wal Nisaa (The Shepherd and the Women) dir Ali Badrakhan; star Ahmed Zaki and Youssra.