There have been numerous actresses who have delivered many successful films at Egypt’s box office, however, very few have had an everlasting impact on generations.
Hoda Sultan is one such superstar who obtained tremendous success in the late 1960s, when she was paired with renowned actor and her late husband Farid Sahwky, the So-called "The Monster of Egypt's Cinema."
The legendary actress passed away on 5 June 2006. Here are lesser-known facts about the actress:
Born on August 15, 1925, in Tanta, the late actress made her screen debut in 1950 in the film The lady of beauty "Set El Hosn".
Despite the rejection she faced from breaking into the field, particularly from her father, she succeeded in breaking into Egyptian radio with her first song in 1949.
According to critics, being accepted as an official singer was only the advanced step in fulfilling her huge ambitions. On this basis, she auditioned for a role that was announced by Nahas Studio, who was searching for a new face capable of singing to participate in Bella Donna (1950, Niazi Mostafa), and landed it.
Later, she was once noticed by the director Hassan Al-Imam for her charm and innocence; she was selected to play the role of A Wife from the Street and Men’s Huntress.
Sultan formed one of the best in Egyptian cinema with Farid Shawky, her husband at the time. The couple, the remarkable duet, made nineteen films together, starting with Bella Donna and The Rule of the Powerful.
They had a love-affair that continued for several years. Shawky was very passionate about her and she loved him so much that she was ready to forgo her singing career.
Sultan, who initially acted in cinema before she shifted to the silver screen, popular filmmakers gave her a prominent role in the Ezzeddine Zulfikar’s masterpiece A Woman on the Road.
She embodied the traditional role of the enchanting, helpless girl, but quite differently from other female stars’ performances, which were characterised by total submissiveness and down-trodden.
Sultan created a model of seduction with female actresses in cinema, in the mould of Hollywood’s Marilyn Monroe. However, she was mostly known for her mother roles in both Egyptian cinema and television
She was well-known for her notable movies, such as (1954, Niazi Mostafa), The Love of My Heart (1952, Helmy Rafla), Hamido (1953, Niazi Mostafa), They Made Me a Criminal (1954, Atef Salem), and The Swindler (1954, Helmy Rafla).
Throughout her long-standing career, she featured in many black and white movies and she also was cited as one of the most awarded actresses for her talent alongside Magda, Shadia, Mariam Fakhr-Eddine and Madiha Youssri.
She received a lot of awards, including the Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF), and the State award in 1955 “Gaalouny Mogremann.
Sultan gained more recognition for her artistic maturity in such films as The Circus (1968, Atef Salem), Dalal the Egyptian (1970, Hassan Al-Imam), The Choice (1971, Youssef Chahine), and especially in Kamal El-Sheikh’s masterpiece Something in my Heart (1971), which heralded her entrance into roles of motherhood., where she gradually became one of the most famous mothers on the silver screen and on TV.
She also acted in many TV serials Elwatad and Arabisk in the early 90s. The gorgeous star was married five times, to Mohamed Naguib, film producer Fouad Algazirly, Lebanese prince Fouad Elatrash, renowned actor Shawky, and Theratical director Hassan Abdel salam. Sultan had three children: one daughter with Naguib, and two daughters with Shawky.
Her last work was The Tent Pole (1996, Ahmed El-Nahas), which was adapted from Khairy Shalaby’s novel where she made an indelible performance as Fatma Ta’alba, and Zizinia (1997, Gamal Abdel-Hamid).
Unfortunately, Sultan died of cancer on June 5, 2006, at the age of 80.
Follow the latest news on Google News
