Shadia

Shadia was born "Fatma Ahmad Kamal Shaker" in 1931, in Elhelmiyya Elgedida, in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian father Ahmed Kamal Sahker^[3] from Sharqia and a mother of Turkish origin.^[4][5] In 1947, she fell in love with an Egyptian officer from Upper Egypt, and was heartbroken by his death during the 1948 war.^[6] Shadia had five sisters and brothers. She was the youngest of her sisters and the second youngest among all her siblings. Since her childhood, Shadia loved to sing and was encouraged to pursue music at primary school.

Shaker gave herself the stage name "Shadia", after the name of a newborn of one of her family's friends. She began acting at the age of fifteen. In her heyday during the 1950s and 1960s, Shadia acted in numerous melodramas, romance, and comedy films. However, it was her singing talent that established Shadia as one of the most important Egyptian cinema stars of her era.^[7]

Overall, as "Shadia", she performed in more than 100 films.^[7] Shadia is credited for acting alongside leading man Salah Zulfikar in his film debut, "Oyoun Sahrana" (Wakeful Eyes, 1956). Later, she paired with Zulfikar in six films, forming a famous duet, achieving major commercial and critical success, and becoming an Egyptian cinema classic. She also starred in more than 30 films with the actor Kamal El Shennawy, and sang opposite Farid El Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez, such as in "Ma'boudat El Gamaheer" (The People's Idol, 1967). She appeared with Faten Hamama in Ezz El-Dine Zulfikar's "Mawe'd Ma'a El Hayah" (Appointment with Life, 1954), and in "El Mar'a El Maghula" (The Unknown Woman, 1959) by Mahmoud Zulfikar, she played the role of Fatma in a heavy melodrama.

Other films she starred in include "El les we El Kelab" (The Thief and the Dogs, 1962) with Shoukry Sarhan, where she played the role of a prostitute for the first time. She starred in comedy roles in films such as "El Zouga raqam 13" (Wife Number 13, 1962).

Her famous trilogy alongside Salah Zulfikar; "Merati Modir 'Am " (My Wife, the Director General, 1966), "Karamat Zawgaty" (My Wife's Dignity, 1967) and "Afrit Merati" (My Wife's Goblin, 1968), were huge successes.^[7] Shadia was often cast in cunning and cheeky roles, however, she also played serious roles, such as in Salah Zulfikar Films production; "Shey Min El Khouf" (A Taste of Fear, 1969) and "Uyoon Sahranah" (Wakeful Eyes, 1956) by Ezz El-Dine Zulfikar and "El Tareeq" (The Road, 1964) based on a book by Naguib Mahfouz, and "Lamset Hanan" (A Toutch of Tenderness, 1971), her last film opposite Salah Zulfikar.

Shadia performed in the 1985 stage version of "Raya and Sakina", which was based on the 1953 film and true story of two Alexandrian serial killers, directed by Salah Abu Seif.^[7] She produced two films, and appeared in several films in Japan.

As a singer, Shadia was called "the voice of Egypt". During hard and war times, she was famous for her Egyptian patriotic songs, especially "Ya Habibti Ya Masr" (Oh Egypt, My Love)^[8] and "Aqwa Mn El Zaman" (Stronger Than Time). She participated in many operettas about Egypt and the Arab world along with other Egyptian and Arabic singers, including: "Al Watan Al Akbar" (The Great Nation), "El Geel El Sa'ed" (The Rising Generation), and "Soot El Gamaheer" (The Voice of the Masses). Her mega hit song "Ya Habibti Ya Masr" (Oh Egypt, My Love), was considered one of the best patriotic songs ever. During a TV-interview, Shadia said regarding her famous patriotic song: "When I am singing to my homeland, it is even way more romantic and more honest than any romantic song. Here I am singing to my home, my land. There was a period when Egypt's name was erased (Nasser's era), Egypt’s name will never get erased from our hearts".^[9] After almost 25 years of retirement, Shadia's song became an anthem of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.^[10]

Upon returning from the premiere of "Raya and Sakina", Shadia stated that she gave serious thought that night to the idea of repentance. The following morning, she informed her producers that she wanted no part in the play from then on, but eventually promised to finish her work when they insisted that she do so. Thereafter, Shadia retired from the film and music industry, and went on a Umrah to Mecca, where she met the popular Egyptian Azhari scholar Sheikh El Shaarawy. Her meeting with El-Shaarawy influenced Shadia to reach her final decision to start wearing the hijab.^[11]

Shadia retired at the age of 50, citing the reason for her retirement as religious. She explained that she had been through many hard periods and rough circumstances throughout her life including struggling with cancer and depression that had veered her from her career. She decided to dedicate the rest of her life to caring for orphan children, stating that was her life's greatest joy. She also donated to charities, a decision she said she never once hesitated to make.^[12]

Shadia fell in love with an army officer who was killed during the battles of the 1948 Palestine War. Years later, In 1953, she was married to actor Emad Hamdy. This marriage lasted for 3 years and ended with divorce on good terms. In 1958, Shadia married Aziz Fathi, who was a radio engineer. He was several years younger than Shadia, and it did not take long until problems arose between Shadia and her husband. She filed a lawsuit that continued for a long time in courts and was sentenced to divorce after a marriage that lasted 3 years.^[13]

Shadia's third and final marriage came after a highly publicized love story with actor and producer Salah Zulfikar. She fell in love with Zulfikar in 1964 while filming Dearer than my Life (1965) and they married in the same year. Zulfikar, who was a box office mogul, shared the lead with Shadia in highly successful ventures mid-1960s.^[14][15] In one of her press interviews, she stated that he was the love of her life and he was the only man with whom she wished to have children. Unfortunately, she became pregnant three times and suffered a miscarriage each time. This turned out with depression though Zulfikar who already had children from his first marriage, tried to help her overcome her depression and produced A Taste of Fear (1969) with Shadia in the lead, the film turned out to be one of her cinematic masterpieces.^[16] Her depression lead to the end of this marriage and they got divorced in 1970. Shadia never remarried.^[17][18]

Shadia was hospitalised on 4 November 2017 after suffering a massive stroke in Cairo. She was placed under intensive care.^[19] Her nephew, Khaled Shaker, said during a televised phone conversation that she recovered from the stroke and could identify her relatives and the people around her. He added, however, that her illness was complicated by pneumonia, despite her recovery.^[20] Shadia's condition stabilised on 9 November,^[19] and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited her that day at Al-Galaa Hospital. Shaker later said that the first words she spoke after recovering were "I want to go home", but had speech difficulties in general.^[21]

On 28 November, Shadia died from respiratory failure caused by the pneumonia.^[22]

On February 8, 2021, Google celebrated her 90th birthday with a Google Doodle. The Doodle was displayed in Egypt, Israel and Sweden.^[23]

Source:^[24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shadia.

• Shadia at IMDb 
• Lost Continent: Cinema of Egypt