Remembering Legendary Egyptian Actor Farid Shawqi on His 25th Death Anniv.

Today marks the 25th death anniversary of legendary actor Farid Shawqi, fondly known as "The King".

He passed away on 27 July 1998. However, his memories are still alive in our hearts.

The late actor has been one of the finest artists of Egyptian cinema. With more than 350 films in his career, Shawqi was allocated many awards for his immense contribution to Egyptian cinema including the State's Award of Arts in 1962, presented by former president Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Cairo Cinema Festival award.

Born in Cairo on July 30, 1920, Shawqi received his degree from the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts, where he studied acting. 

At the beginning of his career, he was clever at playing the villain, but he was a special kind of villain, not like the one to which the Arab cinema audience was accustomed; instead, he relied on wile and guile to drive a wedge between the films’ protagonists, according to Egyptian media.

During this time, Shawqi began to move towards what could be called justified villainy, or shady roles where benevolent characteristics were still present, despite the character’s deviant behavior.

In 1947, He made his film debut“Mala’eka Fi Gohanam” (Angels in Hell).

In 1951, Shawqi married Huda Sultan, who was a prominent singer and actress at that time. 

The couple made a famous partnership in more than 80 films. The marriage lasted 18 years and produced two daughters Maha and Nahid who is a successful film producer in her own right.

His second and last marriage was to Soheir Tork, who gave him two daughters Abir and Rania.

The actor did many notable roles in films like "The Strong Men of Boulaq" (1981), "The Devil Sermonising" (1981), and "The Queen Bee Honey" (1985) all of which are adapted from the works of Naguib Mahfouz, who was fascinated by the world of strong men.