Actress Amal Farid dies at 80
Egyptian star shot to fame during the golden era along with celebrated actors
Egyptian actress Amal Farid, remembered for her roles in local cinema classics, died at a Cairo hospital yesterday, the Health Ministry said. She was 80.
Farid was this week admitted to the hospital after her health deteriorated at a nursing home where she had stayed. Earlier this year, she suffered a bone fracture after she slipped on the floor and had to undergo surgery. Local media reported that Farid had also suffered from Alzheimer’s and financial problems in her recent years, prompting state authorities to support her.
Born in the Cairo quarter of Al Abasiya in February 1938, Farid launched an acting career in the 1950s. She appeared in the 1954 film A Date with Happiness starring legendary actress Faten Hamama.
Farid’s big break came the following year, when she costarred with iconic singer-actor Abdul Halim Hafez in Nights of Love. She teamed up with Hafez in another romantic film two years later, titled Girls of Today.
Farid featured in a set of other well-remembered films from Egypt’s golden era in the 1950s and 1960s. The pictures brought her to the galaxy of celebrated actors of the time, including Omar Sharif, Ahmad Ramzi, Esmail Yassin, Zaki Rostum and Roshudy Abaza. Her roles varied between portraying the dreamy and rebel girl.
She retired in 1969 after she got married.