Magda Al-Khatib

Brief Biography

• Name: Magda Al-Khatib
• Date of birth: 2 October 1943
• Place of birth: Cairo, Egypt
• Date of death: 16 December 2006
• Profession: Egyptian actress
• Years active: from 1960 until her death
• Standing: an actress and producer associated with leading roles in 1970s Egyptian cinema

Early Life and Beginnings

• Her uncle was actor Zaki Rostom.
• She began acting at seventeen with a small supporting role in «Love and Pleasure», then appeared in «Melody of Happiness».

Career

• Her first starring role and breakthrough came in «Dalal the Egyptian», directed by Hassan El-Imam, a role that opened leading parts in more than fifty-five films.
• She starred in Hussein Kamal's «Chitchat on the Nile», based on Naguib Mahfouz's novel «Adrift on the Nile».
• She produced three films: «Imtithal», «Visitor at Dawn» and «In Summer We Must Love».
• She appeared in Youssef Chahine's «An Egyptian Story» and starred alongside Ahmed Zaki in «El Awamma 70».

Selected Works

• Palace of Longing (1966)
• Half an Hour of Marriage (1969)
• Dalal the Egyptian (1970)
• Chitchat on the Nile (1971)
• Visitor at Dawn (1973)

Artistic Style

• She combined screen stardom with independent production of several of her films.
• Her presence is tied to dramatic and social roles within a critical 1970s film current.

Awards and Recognition

• She won the Golden Pyramid Acting Award for «Dalal the Egyptian».
• She won Best Supporting Actress for «Tufahha» in 1996.

Personal Life

• She received a suspended one-year prison sentence for manslaughter after striking a pedestrian with her car while under the influence, and spent eight months on remand.
• She was imprisoned in a drug-related case, was in Greece when the final sentence was issued, and later returned to Egypt in the 1990s.

Passing

• She died after severe pneumonia led to kidney failure, and she was placed on a respirator before her death.