It was as if the blue of the Alexandria sea crept into her eyes, and her brilliance did not fade until her last blink. Between birth and death, Zubaida Tharwat remained “the cat of Arab cinema”.
In Alexandria, and within the coastal city, the woman with the most beautiful eyes in the history of Egyptian cinema was born. A title that may not be inferred with material data, or subject to critics’ evaluation, but the audience gave her the title, as well as love, while she was stingy with the rest of her life on them in art, but her motives were to remain beautiful until the last moment in their eyes, so she had what she wanted.
On June 14, 1940, Zubaida Tharwat was born into a family whose blood extended to the nobles. Her grandfather, Sultan Hussein Kamel, took the name of her grandmother, the daughter of the Egyptian Sultan in times past.
Whoever looks at her face believes that the angels left a trace in Alexandria, for her beauty was angelic and her features were thin, drawn like a painting by a dreamer artist.
Her father was an officer, known for firmness, seriousness and discipline. While she was the ultimate tenderness, glamorous beauty, and a great actress, she captivated the hearts of viewers for decades, those who lived through her and those who came following them.
At a young age, Zubaida was awarded the title of Miss Teenage Girls. Her picture was on the cover of “Al-Jeel” magazine, and it was a wide door to fame, which opened wide for her. But she was interested in studying law, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but the lights of cameras and lenses changed that dream.
The beginning was from a small scene in the movie “Dalila” when she was not over 16 when she stood in front of the camera, so her star emerged, and following that she presented other roles, as in the films “Women in My Life, Lived for Love, and the Little Angel”.
Then she participated in films that are still engraved in the minds of her fans, her beginning was when she stood in front of the star and singer Abdel Halim Hafez in “A Day of My Life” and then another role in “In Our Home is a Man” to have a strong presence on the art scene, along with senior artists. Until her last work was in the play “Who Can’t Reem” in 1987.
A great artistic career in a short period of time, only 35 works of art, they carved a great place in the hearts of the masses. She preferred to stay away from the world of art so that the audience would keep her image in their minds, and she is still “the cat of Arab cinema”. And she went to take care of her daughters.
A spark of love erupted between her and Abdel Halim Hafez, with the movie “A Day of My Life”, and he was very fond of it, but he did not confront her regarding his love due to the circumstances of his illness, but he proposed to her from her father, who refused the matter, and said, “I will not marry my daughter to my singers” and she did not know Zubaydah wealth this matter only following a long time.
During her meeting with the media, Amr Al-Leithi, she talked regarding the love between them, and how Abdel Halim was making a “dubble” of her hair, and he wrapped it on his hand and kissed it, and the artist’s mother, Zubeida Tharwat, watched him do that, so I asked him, “So much so that you love Zubaida, Abdel Halim,” and he answered her “Oi, oh.” Despite this, Zubeida Tharwat did not marry Abdel Halim Hafez, despite more than one marriage, the most prominent of whom was the Syrian producer Sobhi Farhat, the father of her four daughters, “Reem, Rasha, Maha and Qusmat”.
On Tuesday, December 16, 2016, Zubaida Tharwat passed away, at the age of 76. To close her charming eyes for the last time, but she is still present in the hearts and eyes of her lovers as she loved to be.