Zubaida Tharwat

Zubaida Ahmed Tharwat, known affectionately as "the most beautiful eyes in classic Egyptian cinema", was born on 15 June 1940 in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt, into a prominent family with deep roots in Egyptian society. Her father, Ahmed Tharwat, served as an officer in the Egyptian Navy, providing her with a disciplined yet privileged upbringing. Her entry into the world of entertainment was almost serendipitous; in 1955, while still a teenager, she won a beauty contest organized by the Egyptian teen magazine El-Geel, which prominently featured her photograph and immediately captured the attention of the country's leading filmmakers and producers. This exposure proved pivotal, as it led to her enrolling at the Faculty of Law at Alexandria University while simultaneously preparing for a career in cinema. She made her silver screen debut in the film Dalila (1956), and her striking beauty and natural acting talent quickly propelled her to stardom, earning her additional nicknames such as "The Pussycat of Arabic Cinema" and "The Queen of Romance" during the golden age of Egyptian cinema.

Tharwat's career trajectory reached its zenith during the late 1950s and early 1960s, establishing her as one of the most sought-after leading ladies of her generation. She delivered memorable performances in iconic films including Hekayt 3 Banat (1957), El-Malak el-Sagheir (1957), and Bent 17 (1958), before achieving massive commercial success with Inni Attahem (1960) opposite Salah Zulfikar, Youm min Omri (1961) alongside the legendary Abdel Halim Hafez, and There is a Man in our House (1961) with Omar Sharif. After a significant hiatus from 1962 to 1969, she made a triumphant return to acting with How to Get Rid of Your Wife (1969) and continued to impress audiences throughout the 1970s with roles in El-Hob El-Daea (1970), The Other Man (1973), and The Guilty (1975). Her personal life was marked by four marriages to Ihab El-Ghazawi, Sobhi Farhat (with whom she had four daughters), Mohamed Ismail, and actor Omar Nagi. Following her retirement from the entertainment industry in the mid-1980s after her final play Meen Ye'dar ala reem (1987), she spent time residing in the United States before returning to Egypt, where she ultimately passed away in Cairo on 13 December 2016 at the age of 76 after a courageous battle with cancer.