Hind Hussain Mohammed or Nariman Hussein Murad, more commonly known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Hind Rostom, ( ; November 12, 1929 – August 8, 2011) was an Egyptian

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and is considered one of the icons in the

Egyptian cinema The Egyptian film industry is today based mainly in Cairo, which is sometimes referred to as Hollywood on the Nile, Hollywood of the Middle East or Hollywood of the East, despite having its beginnings in the city of Alexandria in the early 20t ...

, as she was mainly known for her sensual roles. Her physical appearance earned her the name

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

of the east ("''مارلين مونرو الشرق''"). Hind Rostom starred in more than 80 movies in her career.

Early life

Hind Hussain Mohammed was born in the neighborhood of Moharram Bek,

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on November 12, 1929. She was born to a

Middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

family, to an

ian mother and an

n father of Egyptian origin.

Career

She started her career at the age of 16 with the film ''Azhaar wa Ashwak'' (''Flowers and Thorns''). Her first true success was in 1955 when the famous director Hassan El Imam offered her a role in ''Banat el Lail'' (''Women of the Night''). Her famous films include

Ezz El-Dine Zulficar Ezz El-Dine Ahmed Mourad Zulficar (; 28 October 1919 – 1 July 1963) was an Egyptian film director, screenwriter, actor and producer known for his distinctive style, which blends romance and action. He is widely regarded one of the most influen ...

's '' Return My Heart'' (''Rodda Qalbi'') with

Shoukry Sarhan Mohamed Shoukry El Husseiny Sarhan (13 March 1925 – 19 March 1997, ), better known as Shoukry Sarhan (), was an Egyptian actor. He is regarded as one of the greatest Egyptian actors of all time. Life and career Sarhan was born in El Sha ...

Mariam Fakhr Eddine Mariam Mohamed Fakhr Eddine (, 8 September 1933 – 3 November 2014) was an Egyptian film and television actress, and was the second wife of prominent filmmaker Mahmoud Zulfikar (1914 – 1970). She was nicknamed the "Belle of the Screen" (). Be ...

and

Salah Zulfikar Salah El-Din Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar (, ; 18 January 1926 – 22 December 1993) was an Egyptian actor and film producer. He started his career as a Egyptian National Police, police officer, before becoming an actor in 1956. He is regarded as one o ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

, ''Ibn Hamidu'' with

Ismail Yassine Isma'il Yasin (also credited as ''Ismail Yassin''; ; 15 September 1912 – 24 May 1972) was an Egyptian actor and script writer. He was known for his slapstick humor and has been compared to Charlie Chaplin. He began his acting career in 1939 ...

in 1957. She was cast by

Youssef Chahine Youssef Chahine ( ; 25 January 1926 – 27 July 2008) was an Egyptian film director. He was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. He directed twelve films included in a list of Top 100 Egyptian films published by ...

in the 1958 film ''

Cairo Station ''Cairo Station'', also called ''The Iron Gate'' ( ''Bāb al-Ḥadīd''), is a 1958 Egyptian crime-drama film directed by Youssef Chahine, written by Mohamed Abu Youssef and Abdel Hay Adib, and starring Farid Shawqi and Hind Rostom. The plot fo ...

'' (''The Iron Gate / Bab El Hadid'') alongside

Farid Shawki Farid Shawqi Mohammad Abdou Shawqi () (July 30, 1920 in El Sayyeda Zainab – July 27, 1998 in Maadi); known as Farid Shawqi () was an Egyptian actor, screenwriter and film producer. He acted in 351 films, 27 plays and 17 television series; ...

. She also co-starred in

Salah Abu Seif Salah Abu Seif (, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was a prominent Egyptian film director and screenwriter. He is considered to be the godfather of Neorealism (art), Neorealist cinema in Cinema of Egypt, Egyptian cinema. Many of the 41 fil ...

's ''

La Anam ''Sleepless'' (, translit. La Anam) is a 1957 Egyptian melodrama film. The film follows the intricate story of Nadia Lutfi, a daughter of divorced parents who suffers from Electra complex, which drives her to intervene in her father's rel ...

'' (''Sleepless'') with

Faten Hamama Faten Ahmed Hamama (, ; 27 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an Egyptian film and television actress and film producer. She made her screen debut in 1939, when she was only seven years old. Her earliest roles were minor, but her activity an ...

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...

, and

Rushdy Abaza Rushdy Saiid Bughdadi Abaza () (3 August 1926 – 27 July 1980) was an Egyptian film and television actor. He was considered one of the most charming actors in the Egyptian film industry and is one of the most famous. He died of brain cancer at t ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, ''Sira' fi al-Nil'' ('' Struggle on the Nile'') with Omar Sharif and Rushdy Abaza in 1959, and ''Chafika el Koptia'' (''Chafika the Coptic Girl'') in 1963, where she played the role of a Coptic Orthodox

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

. Rostom was known as the queen of seduction in Egyptian cinema, the "

of the East (or of the

)".

She decided to retire acting in 1979 because she wanted the audience to remember her at her best. In December 2002 Rostom once more turned down an offer of £E1,000,000 for her biography. The offer was made by an Egyptian satellite channel to portray her life as a drama series. She was asked to submit a complete history of her past achievements, and work experiences with prominent actors of the past, such as

, Shukri Sarhan, and

Shadia Fatma Ahmad Kamal Shaker (; 8 February 193128 November 2017), better known by her stage name Shadia (, ''Shādya''), was an Egyptian actress and singer. She was famous for her roles in light comedies and Drama (film and television), drama in th ...

. The actress stated that she refused to sell her life as a means of entertainment and felt that her personal life was of her concern and no one else. Rostom made a statement when she turned down belly dancer Fifi Abdo's invitation to attend a party held in Hind Rostom's honour. In 2004, she refused to accept

Order of Sciences and Arts The Order of Sciences and Arts is an Egyptian presidential decoration. History The order was established in accordance with Law No. 528 of 1953, which was amended by Law No. 12 of 1972. It is awarded to those who have provided excellent servic ...

, "The award came too late, I'm not placed on the shelf for them to pick me whenever they want, there's only one Hind Rostom in the middle east, and let's consider that the number of my generation star actresses isn't that big enough to ignore us, and also it's not appropriate to honor me after years of honoring people who are less than me, another point is that I also refuse to honor me before Shadia, she'd deserved it and she was a star longtime before me", Rostom commented.

Personal life

Hind Rostom's personal life has always been shrouded in mystery. She was married twice, once to Hassan Reda, a

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and father of her only daughter, Passant, then to Dr. Mohammad Fayaad, a

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

. "I have no regrets," she stated in an interview about her decision to retire. "I did it for the love of my life, my prince, Dr. Fayaad," she added, referring to her second husband Mohammed Fayyad, whom she was married to for more than 50 years. Hind_Rustom

Rostom was overprotective of her daughter Passant due to worry about the stigma associated with artists’ children lacking parental supervision. "She was extremely stern, even with my friends," Passant recalled. She was not allowed to join her friends on trips and outings.

Death

On August 8, 2011, Rostom died in a hospital in Al-Mohandeseen,

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

due to a heart attack, at the age of 81.

Honours

On November 12, 2018,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

recognized her with a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract art, abstract lines or shapes, generally w ...

Selected filmography

Film

References

External links

* .
Biography
on

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin, 'Library of Alexandria'; , ) (BA) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the larg ...

An interview with Hend Rostom

Al-Ahram's article

Hind Rostom’s 87th Birthday
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rostom, Hind 1931 births 2011 deaths

Hind Rostom Hind Hussain Mohammed or Nariman Hussein Murad, more commonly known by her stage name Hind Rostom, ( ; November 12, 1929 – August 8, 2011) was an Egyptian actress and is considered one of the icons in the Cinema of Egypt, Egyptian cinema, as sh ...

Egyptian comedians 20th-century Egyptian actresses Egyptian film actresses Egyptian stage actresses Actresses from Alexandria