Remembering Mohamed Fawzi on His 56th Death Anniv.

Legendary star Mohamed Fawzi passed away today, 56 years ago on October 20, 1966.

Fawzi was among the iconic singers in the Egyptian entertainment industry. He was born on 15 August 1919. He started his career as an actor in The Executioner’s Sword (1944) and his first recorded song was "Sodfa" for the 1946 film "Ashab El Saada (Happiness Owners).

Apart from being a singer, Fawzi was also an actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and composer.

Throughout his career, Fawzi featured in 32 films, most of which contained some form of musical performance.

He was known for his collaborations with Mohamed Abdel Motteleb and Mahmoud El Sherief. The trio cooperated and composed music for many theatrical sketches.

After the revolution, Fawzi wrote a number of patriotic songs as “Balady Habibty,” children’s songs such as “Mama Zamanha Gaya” and “Zahab El Lail,” and religious songs like “Ya Tawab Ya Ghafoor.”

He also composed the music for "Kassaman", the Algerian national anthem, with lyrics by “poet of the Algerian Revolution” Moufdi Zakaria.

In 1957, Fawzi launched the vinyl record factory, which swallowed almost all his savings. However, he was definitely capable of carrying on his cinematic career, for he continued to sing and participate in public concerts and national projects.

After a while, the Egyptian media reported that he was suffering from a mysterious illness that perplexed doctors and drove him to travel to Europe and America many times.