January 26, 2022

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 79th birthday of Egyptian actress, singer, and dancer Soad Hosny. Known as a highly versatile performer who became an icon of women’s empowerment, Hosny is remembered as one of Egypt’s most influential actresses.

Soad Muhammad Kamal Hosny was born to a large, artistic family in Cairo, Egypt on this day in 1943. Her career in show business began at just three years old as a singer for “Papa Sharo,” a popular Egyptian children’s radio program. She performed her first starring role at 17 in the 1959 Arabic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, “Hassan and Naima,” a breakout role that marked the start of a prolific on-screen career spanning more than 80 comedies, musicals, dramas, and romance films alongside some of Egypt’s top entertainers.

Dubbed the “Egyptian Cinderella,” Hosny helped redefine 1960s popular culture in Egypt by juxtaposing refined glamor and rebellious independence. Hosny’s work is said to have been intertwined with many social and political moments in modern Middle Eastern history and has long been recognized for making specific efforts to address gender equality. Her acting, singing, and dancing transcended genre barriers as she delivered nuanced performances in roles ranging from ingenue to bold revolutionary in some of Egypt’s most iconic films over more than three decades.

Today, the young and daring characters that Hosny portrayed in films remain a source of inspiration for some of Egypt’s contemporary young feminist activists.

Here’s to a star that keeps on shining— Soad Hosny!