Remembering Madiha Yousri on Her 5th Death Anniversary

Today, May 30 marks the fifth death anniversary of legendary actress Madiha Yousri, fondly known as Dark-Skinned Egyptian Cinderella.

Yousri is considered to be one of the greatest screen legends of classic Egypt cinema. Her outstanding and dignified personality has allowed her to reach cult status.

Born as Hanouma Habib Khalil on 3 December 1918, in Cairo, she is known for appearing in over ninety films and acting in over 14 TV series.

Yousri made her artistic debut in the 1940 "Mamnoa Elhob" (Love is Prohibited) which had originally been made as a silent film.

The late star is also well-known for some of his seminal works, such as "Azhar wa Ashwak" (1947), "Lahn al-Kholood" (1952), "Afraid of Something" ( 1979), "Joy" (1999), "Terrorist" (1993), and "Night and Memories" (1975).

With the overwhelming success of Yousri’s first breakthrough in the Love is Prohibited, Egyptian Cinema was liberated from much of its classicism and pushed in a more youthful direction.

Further success came when renowned Egyptian actor Youssif Wahabi watched her audition in Al-Ahram studio and gave her a role in his film “Ibn Alhdad” (The Blacksmith’s Son) in 1944.

Later, she starred in two movies with him - a leading stage and film star in the 1930s and 1940s, "Fanan Azeem" (Great Artist), and "Awlady" (My Sons).

In addition to acting, many big-name actresses of the 1950s went into producing not only as another revenue stream but to influence what projects are being made in Egyptian cinema as well.

Therefore, Yousri decided to produce the film "El-Avocato Madiha" (Madiha the Lawyer), alongside Youssef Wahbi, who also directed it, as well as "Wafaa lel Abad" (Forever Faithful) in 1953 and "Qalb Yahtareq" (The Burning Heart) in 1959.

Yousri married fourth times; the first was the renowned singer and composer Mohamed Amin. The second was the talented actor Ahmed Salm. The third was the remarkable actor Mohamed Fawzy and they gave birth to her only son Amr. Her last marriage was to Imam Ibrahim Salama Elradi.

The iconic actress was honored by many political and social leaders including Hosni Mubarak and Anwar Al-Sadaat.

The "Eny Rahila" star died on the 30th of May, 2018 at the age of 99, and left millions of fans mourning after a lustrous career spanning over four decades in the Egyptian film industry.