Sanaa Gamil

Born Thoraya Atallah, in Minya Governorate on April 27, 1930. She was an orphan, thrown out by her elder brother from their home on a cold night for his refusal of allowing his sister to enter the movie business. She endured much before entering the world of professional acting, but was exceptional and endowed with an individual style in performance, regardless of the nature of the characters she personified. She moved to Cairo to pursue her acting career. In an interview with her, Sanaa spoke about the suffering she experienced, crying, frightened, the day her brother spelled her our was the day the Cairo Fire happened. This made this day unforgettable for her whole life.[4] She sought refuge with director Zaki Tulaimat, who helped her live in a student hostel and included her in the “Modern Theater” troupe. Tulaimat chose her stage name, Sanaa Gamil. The daughter of an aristocratic family and a graduate of French schools, she worked in detail so that she could spend on finances. She used to sleep on the tiles sometimes.[5]

Gamil started her career on stage, afterwards, she was casted in her early career in minor roles in a couple of successful films, such as My Father Deceived Me (1951) directed by Mahmoud Zulfikar, A Window Overlooking Paradise (1953) by Ahmed Diaa Eddine, Shame on You (1953) directed by Essa Karama, starring Ismail Yassine, and April’s Fool (1954) by Mohamed Abdel-Gawad.[6] One of her most notable roles was Nefisah in front of Omar Sharif in the movie The Beginning and the End (1960) directed by Salah Abouseif. The film was based on a novel with the same name by the Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. Sanaa Gamil won the best supporting actress award at the Moscow Film Festival in 1961 for her role in this movie.[7][8]

Sanaa Gamil Dawn of a New Day (1965)

After her breakthrough in 1960, she starred in a number of successful productions such as: The Impossible (1965) by Hussein Kamal. Her notable roles include; The Second Wife (1967) by Salah Abu Seif, The Message (1976), La Dame du Caire (1992), The Unknown (1984), Edhak El Soora Tetla Helwa (1998) directed by Sherif Arafa. She had four of her films voted for by critics and featured among "the 100 best ever made Egyptian films in the 20th century" list back in 1996. Not only a film actress, but more importantly a highly respected theater actress, one of the best Egyptian theater actresses. She has also played a number of roles on the French Stage for the Comédie-Française.[9] Her notable roles on stage include; The Cactus Flower (1967), Carte Blanch (1970), and Cabaret (1974). Gamal acted in a number of television series such as Ta'er EL Bahr (Sea Bird) with Salah Zulfikar in 1972 and Oyoun (Eyes) with Fouad el-Mohandes in 1980, and in a number of plays such as The Visit (El-Zeyara) with Gamil Ratib.[7] In 1988, she had another career peak with The White Flag (El Raya El-Bayda), a powerful social drama miniseries where she played the role of Fadda El Maadawi, an illiterate rich woman.[10]

In 2016 the Egyptian director Rogina Bassaly,[11] made a documentary film about her, It's "Sana's Tale" ("حكاية سناء").[12][13] Sanaa Gamil received Order of Sciences and Arts from President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1969, and received another one from President Anwar Sadat in 1976.[14]

Sanaa Gamil was married to the renowned Egyptian journalist Louis Greiss. She met him in 1960, at a farewell party for a Sudanese journalist who had completed her training at Rose al-Yūsuf. She kept getting his name wrong throughout the party and calling him Youssef. Louis Greiss was attached to her, but he thought that their marriage was impossible, as he believed that she was a Muslim because of her frequent saying, “By the Prophet.” He even thought about declaring his conversion to Islam in order to marry her. Afterwards, he discovered that she was a Christian, so he proposed to her, and they married with two rings whose price did not exceed 10 Egyptian pounds.

Sanaa Gamil in 1968

Greiss told about the day of their marriage on Sunday, that the priest refused to complete the marriage without the presence of guests and witnesses, so he went to the newspaper Rose al-Yūsuf, where he worked, and rented 7 vehicles in which he gathered 35 of his colleagues to resolve the crisis. They spent their honeymoon moving between several governorates due to Sanaa’s connection to the number From theatrical performances.[15][16] The love story and marriage of Sanaa and Louis was one of the most famous and beautiful love stories that surpasses romantic novels. Gamil would always swear by his name, saying, “With the life of Louis.” The loving husband responded to her desire not to have children and devote herself to art, and each of them was the focus of the other’s life.[17]

• List of Copts
• List of Egyptians
• Bidaya wa Nihaya (film)

• Sanaa Gamil at IMDb 
• Bidaya wa nihaya on IMDB
• https://elcinema.com/work/2060718/
• Sanaa Gamil at ElCinema