On February 8, the birthday of the beautiful artist, Shadia, who has an angelic face and melodious voice. Who left an imprint in the hearts of her fans that continued even after her retirement from art and her death. That is why Shadia is considered an icon in the world of Egyptian cinema, thanks to her unique talent and intelligence in choosing her roles.
Her songs echoed in all Egyptian homes and on various social, national and religious occasions. Critics called her “The Voice of Egypt”. She was famous for playing the roles of the light-hearted girl, so they called her “The Egyptian Cinema”. As for her fans and fans, they called her “the idol of the masses”, especially after the resounding success of her movie of the same name. On the occasion of her birthday, we shed light on the most prominent stations in Shadia’s life.
Her birth and upbringing
Her real name is Fatima Ahmed Kamal El Din Mohamed Shaker. She was born on February 8, 1931, in the New Helmiya District, Abdeen District, Cairo, to an Egyptian mother with roots in Turkey, and a father from Sharkia Governorate, working as an agricultural engineer and supervisor of private property lands.
Early Works
Shadia loved singing and acting since her childhood, and was encouraged by her primary school music teacher. When she was 16 years old, specifically in 1947, Shadia’s artistic start came by chance. That was when her father read an advertisement for a competition organized by the Union of Artists to choose a number of new faces to star in a group of films that the company will produce. Indeed, her father took her to the company’s headquarters, and the competition committee was excited about her. She presented a small role in the movie “Flowers and Thorns”, then director Helmy Rafla chose her to play the lead role in the movie “The Mind on Ijazah” in front of Mohamed Fawzy. Shadia was well received by the audience, and the film was a great success, which made Mohamed Fawzy use her after that in several films such as: “The soul and the body, the owner of the money, the seventh wife, the daughters of Eve.”
His film career
Shadia reached the peak of her success in the fifties and sixties, where she participated in more than 110 films, and presented various roles between drama, comedy and romance, including: “An hour for your heart, people wronged me, my mother-in-law, an atomic bomb, dewdrops, a girl on the beach, a date with life, women don’t know how to weep, a melody of loyalty, a woman’s youth, the thief and dogs, the idol of the masses, Miramar, a bit of fear, we don’t plant thorns, city lights Doubt, my love.”
Shadia formed a successful duet with the artist Salah Zulficar through a series of films, including: “Wake up eyes, more precious than my life, my wife’s dignity, my wife is a general manager, my wife’s imp, a touch of tenderness.” She also formed another successful duet with the artist Rushdi Abaza, with whom she presented films: “My children, Delilah, the hearts of virgins, the road, half an hour of passport, the wife 13.” As for the duet that she formed with the artist Kamal El-Shennawy, it was the most prominent in Egyptian cinema, where they participated together in 33 films, including: An hour for your heart, people have wronged me, have mercy on my love, the unknown woman, the nest of love, the thief and the dogs, on the banks of the Nile. The last films that Shadia participated in was the movie “Do not ask me who I am” in 1984 with Madiha Yousry, Yousra, Sawsan Badr, Farouk al-Fishawy and Hisham Selim.
She also participated in many radio series, including: We do not plant thorns, doubt, my love, and I fell into the sea of honey, tears dried up, first year love, all this love. She has only one experience on the stage through the play “Raya and Sakina” with Suhair Al-Babli, Abdel Moneim Madbouly and Ahmed Badir.
Her singing talent
Shadia enjoyed a pleasant, sweet voice, enveloped by a delicate and tender feeling. She delighted her audience with it and left a great legacy of fun songs for generations to enjoy throughout the ages, which amounted to 650 songs, among which we mention: “My opponents say it for a period, if he departs from you, O Eye, a strange need, and by God, O time, save him, O Sensen, and the life of your eyes, O peace be upon my love and your love, on the nest of love, the drop of dew, with calm, the salvation of the traveler, covered by you.”She is also famous for her patriotic songs such as: “Oh, my beloved, Egypt, stronger than time, the greater homeland, the rising generation, the voice of the masses, enter it safely, tell Egypt, the lesson is over, the most beautiful homelands, O traveler of Port Said, Egypt today is on Eid.” We cannot forget her religious songs, including: Take my hand, I pray to God, O God, accept my supplications, O Lord, repentance, Glory be to You. As well as her social songs, which are still repeated on many occasions to this day, such as: ” O engagement ring, master of the beloved, Mama, my sweet.”
List of the 100 best films in the history of cinema
List of the 100 best films in the history of 6 films by Shadia have been selected as part of
- The movie “Young Woman” was produced in 1956, starring Tahia Karioka, Shukri Sarhan, Abdel Wareth Asser, Siraj Mounir and Ferdous Muhammad, and directed by Salah Abu Seif. It ranks number 6 on the list.
- The movie “The Thief and the Dogs” was produced in 1962, starring Shukri Sarhan and Kamal Al-Shennawi, and directed by Kamal Al-Sheikh. It is ranked No. 15.
- The movie “Something of Fear” was produced in 1969, co-starring Mahmoud Morsi, Yehia Shaheen, Mohamed Tawfiq and Salah Nazmi, and directed by Hussein Kamal. It is ranked No. 19.
- The movie “Miramar” was produced in 1969, starring Youssef Shaaban, Imad Hamdi, Youssef Wehbe and Abu Bakr Ezzat, and directed by Kamal Al-Sheikh. It is ranked No. 29.
- The movie “My wife is a general manager” produced in 1966, co-starring Salah Zulfiqar, Adel Imam and Tawfiq Al-Daqn, and directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab. It is ranked No. 35.
- The movie “The Wife No. 13”, produced in 1962, starring Rushdi Abaza, Abdel Moneim Ibrahim, Hassan Fayek, Zainab Sedky and Wedad Hamdi, and directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab. It is ranked No. 100.
- Retiring art ..
After a busy artistic career that spanned nearly 40 years, Shadia announced in the mid-1980s, specifically in 1984, her retirement from art and the wearing of the hijab. She donated everything she owned for the benefit of charities, and devoted her life to taking care of orphaned children, especially since she did not have any children. She demolished her villa in the pyramid and built a charitable complex in its place that includes a mosque, a Quran memorization house, an orphanage, and a charitable clinic. She donated her apartment on Arab League Street to the Mustafa Mahmoud Association, to establish a center for the treatment of tumors .
Shadia said in one of the television interviews that she was thinking of retiring before presenting the play “Raya and Sakina”, but when director Hussein Kamal suggested her to participate in a play, and sent her the novel that she liked very much, she decided to present it. During her work in the theater, Shadia would return home late, which helped her to regularly perform the dawn prayer and read the Qur’an on a daily basis, and she used to pray to God to go to his sacred house. Although she was raised in a religious family, working in art kept her busy a lot. Her wish was fulfilled and she went to perform the two rites of Hajj and Umrah, and after her return, Shadia decided to sing only religious songs, and she retired from acting. After a short time, she found herself losing the desire to sing, and she was unable to memorize songs, even religious ones. She quickly went to Sheikh Al Shaarawy and told him that she had promised the audience to sing religious songs, but she could not fulfill this promise. He told her that fulfilling her promise to God is more important than fulfilling her promise to people. Shadia decides to wear the hijab, retire for good, and stay out of the spotlight. She even refused to go to receive a tribute award from a film festival, convinced of Sheikh Al Shaarawy’s advice to stay away from everything related to art, so as not to disturb her new life.
Personal Life
Shadia was married 3 times during her life, and the first marriage was to the artist Imad Hamdi in 1953. She married him despite her family’s refusal because he is 20 years older than her. Their marriage lasted for 3 years, after which Shadia asked for a divorce due to her suffering from his intense jealousy over her. After that, she married radio engineer Aziz Fathi, who was several years younger than her. Their marriage lasted only a few months, when Shadia discovered that he was married and did not tell her, which caused marital disputes between them, especially with his excessive interference in her work, and they ended up in divorce in 1985. Then Shadia decided not to marry and devote herself to art only until she met the artist Salah Zulfikar and fell in love with him, and the couple married in 1965. However, they separated quietly and without problems in 1973, because they did not feel compatibility between them.
Shadia wished to give birth, but her pregnancy was not completed and she lost her fetus several times. Therefore, she considered Ibn Imad Hamdi and the daughters of Salah Zulfikar as if they were her sons, especially since she participated in their upbringing, and she remained in good relations with them even after her divorce.
Her illness and and her death
Shadia was taken to hospital on November 4, 2017, after she fell into a coma as a result of a stroke. She was placed under intensive care until her health condition stabilized. However, she later developed severe pneumonia, which led to respiratory failure. She left our world on November 28, at the age of 86.