Zubaida Tharwat

Zubaida was born in Alexandria, Egypt on June 15, 1940, into an Egyptian family. Her father, Ahmed Tharwat, was an Egyptian Navy officer. As a teenager, she won a beauty contest in an Egyptian teen magazine which widely published her photograph and got her the attention of directors and producers. She studied at the Faculty of Law, Alexandria University.

She made her first film appearance in the 1956 film Dalila, alongside stars of the day Shadia and Abdel Halim Hafez. She went on to work in many other films with other famous actors such as; Youssef Wahbi, Salah Zulfikar, Rushdy Abaza, Kamal el-Shennawi, Soad Hosny and Omar Sharif.

Zubaida Tharwat in Dalila (1956)

Zubaida Tharwat with Salah Zulfikar in Inni attahem (1960)

Zubaida Tharwat with Salah Zulfikar in Al-Rajul Al-Akhar (1973)

Tharwat appeared in the 1950s, 60's and 70's films, her notable roles include; Inni Atahem (1960), Fi Baytuna Ragol, El-Hob El-Daea' (1970), Al-Rajul Al-Akhar (1973), and Al-Mothneboon (1975) among other works on stage such as;. Ana we Heya we mrati (1987). She retired from acting in the late 1980s. During her career, she was given many nicknames such as "The Pussycat of Arabic Cinema", "Magic Eyes" and "The Queen of Romance".

Tharwat had 3 siblings, Including her twin sister Hikmet. She married five times and had four daughters with her second husband, Egyptian producer Sobhy Farahat. Tharwat died at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer and aging-associated diseases.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zubaida Tharwat.

• Zubaida Tharwat at IMDb
• (in Arabic) Zubaida Tharwat at the Arab Cinema Database