Mariam Baharum

Baharum was born on 21 August 1935 in Singapore.[1] She was the sister of another Malay film actress, Saadiah, and the mother of pop singer, Rahimah Rahim.[1]

Baharum's career reached its zenith during the 1950s as an actress signed to Malay Film Productions Ltd. (MFP) in Jalan Ampas, Singapore.[1] Her most well known movie is perhaps the 1952 film, Anjuran Nasib, which was directed B. S. Rajhans and co-starred P. Ramlee.[1] In 1953, Baharum was named the "Second Favorite Female Artiste Malaya" by Filem Raya Magazine for her role in Anjuran Nasib.[1][3]

Baharum other film credits included Aloha, Dewi Murni and Kembar, all of which were released in 1950.[1][4] She appeared in the 1952 film, Aladdin, Kipas Hikmat in 1955, Abu Hassan Penchuri in 1955 and Antara Dua Darjat 1960.[1] Baharum co-starred in her films with most of the major Malaysian film stars of the era, including Kasma Booty, Aziz Sattar, S. Shamsuddin, Osman Gumanti and Datuk Mustapha Maarof.[1]

Baharum was nominated for the Veteran Actress Award at both the 15th Malaysian Film Festival in 2001 and the 22nd Kota Kinabalu Film Festival in 2009.[1]

Mariam Baharum died at 5:50 a.m. on 9 August 2010, at her condo in Yishun, Singapore, at the age of 75.[1] Baharum was buried at Abadi Muslim Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore.[1]

The Malaysian Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Rais Yatim paid tribute to Baharum, calling her death a major loss to the Malay film industry.[5]