Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, an Arab film icon and Omar Sharif\u2019s former wife, died on Saturday (January 17) at the age of 83, their son Tarek Sharif told AFP.\nHamama, who was less than 10 when she made her screen debut, appeared in almost 100 films and worked with masters of Egypt\u2019s massive film industry, including Youssef Chahine.
\nShe often starred with Omar Sharif. Born a Christian, he converted to Islam to marry Hamama and described her as the only love of his life. The couple appeared together in the 1961 movie \u201cRiver of Love\u201d based on Leon Tolstoy\u2019s Anna Karenina.
\nThe couple divorced in 1974 when Omar Sharif, then already famous in his homeland, launched a career in Hollywood.
\n\u201cThe Lady of the Arabic screen,\u201d as she was known, suffered \u201ca sudden health problem which led to her death,\u201d Egypt\u2019s official news agency MENA reported.
\nTarek Sharif did not give a cause of death, while MENA said she had been hospitalised weeks earlier due to illness but had returned home.
\nA figure of the golden age of Egyptian cinema, Faten Hamama\u2019s career reached its pinnacle in the 1940s and 1950s.
\nShe starred in romantic movies alongside the famed Arab crooner Abdel Halim Hafez as well as in films advocating women\u2019s rights and condemning social injustices.
\nFaten Hamama also had a daughter, Nadia, from a first marriage and tied the knot for a third time with a doctor, Mohamed Abdel Wahab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"