Laila Fawzi, Egyptian actress
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(AP)
12 January 2005
CAIRO - Laila Fawzi, an Egyptian actress known for her beauty, has died
after a long battle with an undisclosed illness, Egypt's
semi-official Middle East News Agency reported Wednesday. She was 80.
Fawzi died in a hospital on the outskirts of Cairo on Wednesday
morning, MENA reported.
In a film career that began in 1941, when she was only 15, Fawzi made
70 movies and numerous television serials, according to the critic
Tarek el-Shinawi.
She was perhaps best known for her role as a princess in the crusader
camp in the 1963 film "Saladin." Directed by Youssef Chahine, the
critically acclaimed film led the Egyptian press to dub Fawzi "the
most beautiful of the beautiful."
Critic el-Shinawi said Fawzi's looks seemed to be "wrapped in
cellophane" with a "Don't touch" label.
Her beauty was both an asset and a disadvantage for it limited the
roles she could play, el-Shinawi said Wednesday.
Her first film, "Factory of Wives," appeared in 1941 and her last
one, "Sunstroke," in 1981. Subsequently she acted in television
productions.
In December, she received a lifetime achievement award at the Cairo
International Film Festival.
She married three times. Her last husband died a few years ago. She did
not have children.