Shadia, Egyptian Actress and Singer, Is Dead
Shadia, an Egyptian actress and singer who captivated Arab audiences for decades, died on Tuesday. She was in her late 80s.
Her death was announced on Egypt’s State Information Service website, which did not say where she died. A stroke had left her in a coma at a Cairo military hospital earlier this month.
Shadia, who was known for her silky and playful voice, had roles in more than 100 films and recorded hundreds of singles in a career that began in the late 1940s. She belonged to an era in the Egyptian entertainment industry that critics and entertainers called the “beautiful” or “golden” age, a time that stretched from the 1940s to the ’70s, when some of Egypt’s most highly regarded movies were produced.
Her fan base reached across the Arab world. Her roles ranged from willful country girls and city career women to emotionally disturbed women and hopeless romantics.
Her roles in two films based on novels by the Egyptian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz won her lavish praise from Mr. Mahfouz himself.
“Shadia is a top-quality actress who managed to give the prose of my novels body, blood and a distinctive form,” he once said about her roles as a rebellious woman in “Midaq Alley” (1963) and a prostitute in “The Thief and the Dogs” (1962).
Her hit songs, most of them in Egypt’s distinctive vernacular Arabic, have been part of the country’s entertainment scene for decades. One patriotic song, “Oh, Egypt, My Beloved,” is often played on radio and television on national holidays. She also recorded playful, lighthearted songs like “Drive Slowly So We Can Chill” that resonated with many Egyptians.
Shadia was born Fatimah Shaker but was known throughout her career by her single stage name. The earliest facts of her life remain unclear, including the year she was born. (Different sources list different years; the date most often cited is Feb. 8, 1931.)
Shadia was married three times but had no children. Two of her marriages were to film stars, Imad Hamdy and Salah Zulfaqar, with whom she acted in some of her most successful movies.
Shadia abruptly walked away from the entertainment business about three decades ago. She embraced a strict version of Islam, donned the Islamic hijab and lived a life of nearly total seclusion.
“I don’t want to wait until the limelight slowly, slowly moves away from me,” she told an interviewer on her retirement. “I don’t want to play the roles of old mothers in movies after people grew accustomed to seeing me as the young woman in a lead role. I just don’t like people to see lines on my face.”
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Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker (Arabic: فاطمة أحمد كمال), better known by her stage name Shadia (8 February 1931 – 28 November 2017), was an Egyptian actress and singer. She was famous for her roles in light comedies and drama in the 1950s and 1960s. Her first appearance was in the film el-Aql Fi Agaza (The Mind on Vacation), and she retired after her last film La Tas'alni Man Ana (Don't Ask Me Who I Am).
Born as "Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker" in 1931, in the Sharqia Governorate, in Egypt. Her father, Ahmed Kamak Shaker, was an Upper Egyptian man whose family moved to El Sharqia and her mother was from a family of both Egyptian and Turk origin.[1][2][3] She began acting at the age of thirteen.[3]
Shaker was given the stage name "Shadia" by the film director Helmy Rafla.[4] In her heyday during the 1950s and 1960s, Shadia acted in numerous melodramas, romance, and comedy films. However, it was her musical talent as a singer that established Shadia as one of the most important Egyptian cinema stars of her era.[4]
Overall, as "Shadia", she performed in more than 100 films.[4] She starred in more than 30 films with the actor Kamal el-Shennawi, and sang opposite Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez, such as in "The People's Idol" (1967). She also appeared with Faten Hamama in "An Appointment with Life" (1954), and in "The Unknown Woman" (1959) she played the role of Fatma in a heavy melodrama. Other notable films she starred in include "The Thief and the Dogs" (1962) and in her comedy roles in films "Wife Number 13" (1962) and "My Wife the General Manager" (1966).[4] Indeed, Shadia was often cast in cunning and cheeky roles, however, she also played serious roles, such as in "The Road" (1964), and in the stage version of "Raya and Sakina", which was based on the true story of two Alexandrian serial killers and directed by Hussein Kama (1953).[4]
After retiring from acting, Shadia joined a number of Egyptian actresses who took on the veil (hijab) in an act of Islamic resistance and salvation.[4]
Shadia is considered one of the most popular and most talented singers and actresses in the Arabic movie and entertainment industry. Her songs and movies are still sought after, and her songs are popular among all generations.
Shadia was hospitalized on 4 November 2017 after suffering a massive stroke in Cairo. She was placed under intensive care.[5] Her nephew, Khaled Shaker, said during a televised phone conversation that she recovered from the stroke and could identify her relatives and the people around her. He added, however, that her illness was complicated by pneumonia, despite her recovery.[6] Shadia's condition stabilized on 9 November,[5] and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited her that day at Al-Galaa Hospital. Shaker later said that the first words she spoke after recovering were "I want to go home", but had speech difficulties in general.[7]
On 28 November, Shadia died from respiratory failure caused by the pneumonia.[8]
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Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker (Arabic: فاطمة أحمد كمال), better known by her stage name Shadia (b. February 8, 1931, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt – d. November 28, 2017, Cairo, Egypt), was an Egyptian actress and singer. She was famous for her roles in light comedies and drama in the 1950s and 1960s. Her first appearance was in the film el-Aql Fi Agaza (The Mind on Vacation), and she retired after her last film La Tas'alni Man Ana (Don't Ask Me Who I Am).
Born Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker in 1931, in the Sharqia Governorate, in Egypt. Her father, Ahmed Kamak Shaker, was an Upper Egyptian man whose family moved to El Sharqia and her mother was from a family of both Egyptian and Turk origin. She began acting at the age of thirteen.
Shaker was given the stage name "Shadia" by the film director Helmy Rafla. In her heyday during the 1950s and 1960s, Shadia acted in numerous melodramas, romance, and comedy films. However, it was her musical talent as a singer that established Shadia as one of the most important Egyptian cinema stars of her era.
Overall, as "Shadia", she performed in more than 100 films. She starred in more than 30 films with the actor Kamal el-Shennawi, and sang opposite Farid al-Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez, such as in "The People's Idol" (1967). She also appeared with Faten Hamama in "An Appointment with Life" (1954), and in "The Unknown Woman" (1959) she played the role of Fatma in a heavy melodrama. Other notable films she starred in include "The Thief and the Dogs" (1962) and in her comedy roles in films "Wife Number 13" (1962) and "My Wife the General Manager" (1966). Indeed, Shadia was often cast in cunning and cheeky roles, however, she also played serious roles, such as in "The Road" (1964), and in the stage version of "Raya and Sakina", which was based on the true story of two Alexandrian serial killers and directed by Hussein Kama (1953).
After retiring from acting, Shadia joined a number of Egyptian actresses who took on the veil (hijab) in an act of Islamic resistance and salvation.
Shadia is considered one of the most popular and most talented singers and actresses in the Arabic movie and entertainment industry. Her songs and movies are still sought after, and her songs are popular among all generations.
Shadia was hospitalized on November 4, 2017 after suffering a massive stroke in Cairo. She was placed under intensive care. Her nephew, Khaled Shaker, said during a televised phone conversation that she recovered from the stroke and could identify her relatives and the people around her. He added, however, that her illness was complicated by pneumonia, despite her recovery. Shadia's condition stabilized on November 9, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited her that day at Al-Galaa Hospital.
On November 28, 2017, Shadia died from respiratory failure caused by the pneumonia.
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