Madiha Kamel

Madiha Kamel — Biography

Madiha Kamel (Arabic: مديحة كامل) was an Egyptian film actress, born 3 August 1948 in Alexandria and died 13 January 1997 in Cairo. While studying at Ain Shams University she took part in radio and theatre work, landing her first film roles in the mid-1960s.

After early films opposite the veteran actor-producer Farid Shawqi, her charm and dance performances quickly made her one of the recognizable faces of Egyptian cinema. During the 1970s she appeared alongside stars such as Mahmoud Yassin and Naglaa Fathi, and carried her career into Egyptian and Lebanese productions with thrillers such as Open Eyes (1981).

She also featured in films such as Beş Ateşli Kadın (1968) and Ana (1985), and on Egyptian television played Salwa Nassar, the first Lebanese woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear physics, in the popular series Al-Bashayer. She retired from acting in 1992 to spend time with her ailing mother and her daughter Mirhan, and died in Cairo in 1997.