Many Arab artists inherited their talents from their fathers, and some of them inherited their love for art from their mothers.
Amal Salem and Sawsan Badr
Behind the scenes of the National Theater in Cairo, Amal Salem was setting up a chair for his daughter Sausan Badr. The girl sits and watches her mother's rehearsals and plays. Between sleep and wakefulness, inhaling the scent of the tree, Sawsan came closer to her acting dream year after year.
As a child, Badr memorized the play “Cleopatra”, the text of which was written by the poet Ahmed Shawki, and she would also run after her mother in the house, repeating lines of poetry her mother had memorized.
Artistic interests did not deprive actress Amal Salem (1924 – 2010) of motherhood. Artist Sawsan Badr remembers her as a devoted mother who cared about her child's affairs. She was content with minor roles in her career, but those brief appearances, especially the role of “Amuna” in the play “Raiya and Sakina” were enough to make an impression on her daughter, who nevertheless entered the Institute of Dramatic Arts. Father's objection.
Doria Ahmed and Zuhair Ramsey
Professional colleagues know how fond actress Zuhair Ramji was of her mother, artist Doria Ahmed. He always felt that his mother was the center of his life and that he had more than his twins, and when she died in 2003, he lost his compass and security.
It was only natural that this close relationship would form between them as Doria separated from Ahmed Suhair's father while she was pregnant, and he later became a father and mother to her daughter. Zuhair didn't meet his father until he was 13, but they were only together for a year.
As a child, Zuhair went to work with his mother and became a child actress at the age of six. During that time, Doria Ahmed became popular for her roles as a village girl and later when Suhair Ramsey became a professional,a time.
Ramji also gave care and attention to his mother after his retirement and he used to fill the void by taking care of her and traveling with her for treatment.
Zizi Mustafa and Menna Shalabi
“My mother is everything.” With these words, actress Menna Shalabi sums up her relationship with her mother, artist Zizi Mostafa. Menna expressed her gratitude for carrying the artistic legacy from her mother, especially since Jizzy Mustafa retired from acting and dancing at an early stage, while Shalabi expressed her annoyance at her mother being a dancer.
Jizzy devoted himself to raising Mustafa Menna, and he returned to the limelight after 18 years. Whenever she is asked about her daughter, she replies: “I don't regret retiring, and God has given me someone better than me … my daughter.” As for Menna Shalabi, whenever she mentions her mother, she says that she is not a traditional mother and that she is an ideal woman: “If I have good qualities, I take them from her.”
Talal Abdel Aziz, Tonya and Amy Samir Khanem
Born in the house of Talal Abdel Aziz and Samir Khanem, you will inevitably be struck by the arrow of art and humor. So, it's no surprise that Dunia and Amy have carried the torch and continued on the path. Both daughters received support from their parents, and artist Talal Abdel Aziz did not stand in the way of the talent that emerged in them at an early age.
Dunia and Amy accompanied their parents to theaters and shooting locations, and both artists made no effort to keep them away from the limelight or TV shows, which strengthened their confidence.
Dalal Abdel Aziz discovered the imitation talent of the two girls and after a few years their acting skills emerged, which helped Sameer and Dalal grow. However, entry into the art world did not come by force, but rather by Dunia and Amy's desire.
Despite the accumulation of years of experience, the two stars never abandoned their mother's opinion, knowing that advice never turned into teaching or praise. Amy and Tonya Samir Khanem created 8 collaborative works with their mothers before their deaths in 2021.
Beliefs and Hon'ble Saeed
Unlike Talal Abdel Aziz, artist Amal Saeed refused to allow his daughter Mali to enter the acting industry. She experienced this world early through small roles and it was not difficult for her to give it up after her marriage in 1944.
Amal Saeed (1910 – 1972) retired from acting for 14 years to take care of her husband and children. She sacrificed her artistic ambitions for that marriage, which Mali (1953 – 2014) did not like. However, she returned to the limelight in 1959 with larger roles, most of them maternal, and she became known as a caring mother on the Egyptian screen.
From the point of view of her daughter, she was a decisive and strict mother, but on the other hand, she always said: “I am lucky to have you as her daughter, because I got people's love from her.”
Zuhair Al Morshedi and Hanan Mudawa
Artist Zuhair Al-Morshedi tells about his daughter Hanan Mudawa, who knew about acting while still in her womb, and was pregnant during rehearsals and filming. But despite her faith, despite discovering her daughter's talent at a young age, she kept her out of the limelight. Later, when Hanan expressed his desire to go into acting, his mother objected, unlike his father, who was not satisfied with him entering a commercial institution and instead saw him in a theater arts institution.
The underground experience changed Al-Morshedi's opinion, as he saw in his daughter a self-made artist who “proved that art is not exclusively hereditary,” knowing that artistic styles differed between the two.
Bossi and Mai El-Sherif
Mai Al-Sherif accompanied her parents, Noor and Bossy, to the studio when she was young, and she landed her first role at the age of eight. Bossi, who entered the field in 1961, recalled that her daughter was “attention to detail and listening to a lot of things.” But she did not force art on her despite realizing her talent, instead helping her in subtle ways by enrolling her in acting workshops.
Actress Rania Mahmood Yasin was inspired by her mother Shahira among the artists who dabbled in the field just like Amma. Hailing from Lebanon, actress Lilian Nimri grew up in an artistic home with parents Abdo and Alia Nimri. An only daughter who devoted her life to drama and comedy.
As for music, Nihad Fattoo inherited the beauty of her voice from her mother artist Saud Mohammad and she always sang the most beautiful songs like “I Promise You” and “I Miss You”. From the new generation emerged the voice of Alain Lahoud, who carried the legacy of his mother, the artist Salwa al-Khatrib, in his personality and art.
