Career
Youssef Wahbi, an Egyptian actor and director, recognised the young actress's talent so he offered her a lead role in the 1946 film Malak al-Rahma (ملاك الرحمه, Angel of Mercy). The film attracted widespread media attention, and Hamama, who was only 15 at the time, became famous for her melodramatic role.
In 1949, Hamama had roles in three films with Wahbi: Korsi el-e'traf (كرسى الاعتراف, Chair of Confession), Al-Yateematain (اليتيمتين, The Two Orphans) and Sitt al-Bayt (ست البيت, Lady of the House). All were successful films.
The 1950s were the beginning of the golden age of the Egyptian cinema industry, and Hamama played a significant part. In 1950, she starred alongside Mahmoud Zulfikar in the fantasy film; Akhlaq lil baye (أخلاق للبيع, Virtue for Sale, 1950). In 1951, she starred in the film Lak Yawm Ya Zalem (لك يوم يا ظالم, Your Day will Come) which was nominated at the Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award. She also played lead roles in Yousef Shaheen's Baba Amin (بابا أمين, Amin, my Father, 1950) and Sira` Fi al-Wadi (صراع فى الوادى, Struggle in the Valley, 1954)l, which was a strong nominee at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival for the Prix International award. Hamama is also known for having played the lead role in the first Egyptian mystery film Al-Manzel Raqam 13 (المنزل رقم 13, House Number 13). In 1959, she starred in the Ezz El-Dine Zulficar's romantic classic, Bain Al Atlal (بين الأطلال, Among the Ruins) with her favorite 1950s co-star Emad Hamdy and Egypt's new rising leading man Salah Zulfikar.
In 1963, she received an award for her role in the political film La Waqt Lel Hob (لا وقت للحب, No Time for Love). Hamama was also able to make it to Hollywood; in 1963 she had a role in the crime film, Cairo. In 1947, Hamama married producer/film director Ezz El-Dine Zulficar while filming the Abu Zayd al-Hilali (أبو زيد الهلالى ) film. They started a production company which produced the film Maw`ed Ma` al-Hayat (موعد مع الحياه, Date with Life) in which she starred. This film earned her the title of the "lady of the Arabic screen". She and Zulficar were divorced in 1954. One year later, she married Egyptian film star Omar Sharif. Meanwhile, Hamama continued to act in films directed by her first husband Zulficar, who was also married in the same year to fellow actress Kawthar Shafik.
In 1954, while filming a Youssef Chahine film, Struggle in the Valley, Hamama refused to have the Egyptian actor Shukry Sarhan as a co-star, and Chahine offered Omar Sharif the role. Sharif had just graduated from college then and was working for his father; she accepted him as her co-star. Hamama's marriage to Sharif in 1955 started a new era of her career, in which the couple made many films together. Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama were the romantic leads of Ayyamna al-Holwa (أيامنا الحلوه, Our Sweet Days), Ard al-Salam (أرض السلام, Land of Peace), La Anam (لا أنام, Sleepless) and Sayyidat al-Qasr (سيدة القصر, The Lady of the Palace). Their last film together before their divorce was Ezz El-Dine Zulficar's Nahr al-Hob (نهر الحب, The River of Love) in 1960.
