33 Facts About Faten Hamama

Faten Ahmed Hamama was an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer.

Faten Hamama was the first wife of Ezz El-Dine Zulficar.

Faten Hamama made her screen debut in 1939, when she was only seven years old.

Faten Hamama substantially helped in improving the cinema industry in Egypt and emphasizing the importance of women in cinema and Egyptian society.

Faten Hamama was born in 1931 to an Egyptian lower middle class family in Mansoura, Egypt, but she claimed to have been born in the Abdin quarter of Cairo.

Faten Hamama has an older brother, Mounir, a younger sister, Layla and a younger brother, Mazhar.

The film attracted widespread media attention, and Faten Hamama, who was only 15 at the time, became famous for her melodramatic role.

In 1949, Faten Hamama had roles in three films with Wahbi: Korsi el-e'traf, Al-Yateematain and Sitt al-Bayt.

The 1950s were the beginning of the golden age of the Egyptian cinema industry, and Faten Hamama played a significant part.

Faten Hamama played lead roles in Yousef Shaheen's Baba Ameen and Sira` Fi al-Wadi l, which was a strong nominee at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award.

Faten Hamama is known for having played the lead role in the first Egyptian mystery film Al-Manzel Raqam 13.

Faten Hamama was able to make it to Hollywood; in 1963 she had a role in the crime film, Cairo.

Meanwhile, Faten Hamama continued to act in films directed by her first husband.

In 1954, while filming a Youssef Chahine film, Struggle in the Valley, Faten Hamama refused to have the Egyptian actor Shukry Sarhan as a co-star, and Chahine offered Omar Sharif the role.

Faten Hamama had never agreed to act any scene involving a kiss in her career, but she accepted.

Faten Hamama left Egypt from 1966 to 1971, claiming that she was being harassed by Egyptian Intelligence.

Faten Hamama had been a supporter of the 1952 Revolution, but later became an opponent of the Free Officers and their oppressive regime.

Faten Hamama said they were "asking her to cooperate" but she apologized and refused.

Faten Hamama was only able to leave Egypt after many serious disputes, where she lived in Paris, London and Lebanon.

Faten Hamama called her a "national treasure" and even awarded her an honorary decoration in 1965.

Faten Hamama often criticized the laws in Egypt in her films.

Faten Hamama made her first television appearances in her late career.

Faten Hamama starred in the TV mini-series Dameer Ablah Hikmat.

Faten Hamama was awarded the Egyptian Best TV Actor of the Year and the mini-series won the Best TV Series Award in the Egyptian Radio and Television Festival.

Faten Hamama entered history as the highest-paid actress in an Egyptian television miniseries until 2006, when another actress was paid more.

Faten Hamama began to play realistic, strong women, such as in Sira' Fi Al-Wadi where she portrayed a rich man's daughter who, contrary to stereotype, was a realistic woman who helped and supported the poor.

Faten Hamama has said that her love for Zulficar was little more than a student's admiration and love for a teacher.

In 1954, Faten Hamama chose Omar Sharif to co-star with her in a film.

Faten Hamama later married Mohamed Abdel Wahab Mahmoud, an Egyptian doctor.

Faten Hamama was fluent in French, as she did an interview in French in Lebanon in 1963.

Faten Hamama received her first award in 1951 for her role in I'm the Past, which was presented to her by different venues, including the Egyptian Catholic Center for Cinema.

Faten Hamama was a recipient of the Lebanese Order of Merit in 1984 for her role in The Night of Fatma's Arrest.

Faten Hamama was later presented lifetime achievement awards, including one at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in 1993, and another at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2009.