Google’s latest doodle celebrates what would have been the 79th birthday of the late Egyptian actress, singer and dancer Soad Hosny, better known as the ‘Egyptian Cinderella’, and one of the most dominant artists in the Middle East and the Arab world during her time.
Soad was born to a large, artistic family in Cairo – her father Mohammad was a calligrapher and some of her half-siblings were musicians, painters and composers – with their household known as the “artists’ home” because leading artists from across the Arab world regularly visited.
Her career in show business began at just three-years-old when she sang for a popular children’s TV program, Papa Sharo, and had her first starring role at 17 in the 1959 with ‘Hassan and Naima’ – an Arabic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet – a breakout role that marked the start of a prolific on-screen career covering a wide genre including comedies, musicals, dramas and romance films.
Soad was touted as an icon of women’s empowerment, with many of her works intertwined with social and political moments in modern Middle Eastern history, from her leading role as a student and political activist who was tortured in ‘Karnak’ to other films which she transformed musical numbers into scathing satires which gave voice to the oppressed.
Her final screen appearance was in ‘Al Ra’i We El Nissa’ before retiring from acting in 1991. Soad died on June 21, 2001 at the age of 58.