Today (Feb. 22) marks the death anniversary of the legendary Egyptian actress Akila Ratib, who lost sight late in her life.
Throughout her career, she appeared in more than 60 Egyptian films, including The Doorman, Love Returns Tomorrow, The Three Musketeers, as well as her last film The Charmer and the Tramps in 1976 which was directed by Hussein Emara. She also worked on numerous plays, including The Living Will Always Meet, and The Wife is the Last to Know, the most famous were Hoda, and Queen of the Forest.
Born in Cairo, Ratib made her showbiz debut in the 1930s and worked as a theater actress with the Ali Al-Kassar troupe despite her father's objection to working in the cinema.
Director Zaki Okasha chose her to be the main star of his theatrical troupe in many works, including The Singer of Emotions, Your Dream, The Wife is the Last to Know, Association of Eat and Be Grateful. She received many awards for roles including her work in Salah Abu Seif’s “Don't Extinguish the Sun” (1961).
She managed to play the roles of the working-class woman more than the aristocratic girl. She never was a box-office star, but her roles were very remarkable, notably in Midaq Alley, Love and Tears, and especially her role in Cairo 30.