Amina Rizk

Amina Rizk

Amina Rizk, 90, a pioneering actress in the Egyptian movie industry, died on August 24, 2003.

She was born in Tanta on April 15, 1910. She attended the Tanta School, and used to watch the circus during "Moulid El Sayed El Badawi". It inspired her to perform some minor roles. After her father's death, the young Amina moved to Cairo with her mother. She attended the Deya El Shark School. Amina's debut performance moved the audience crowded in the Road El Farag Theater.

But it wasn't until 1924, that she gained recognition. It was her acting alongside Youssef Wahby in the play Rasboteen that brought Amina to the limelight. Amina's work stretched through the theater, cinema, and radio where she took on different roles giving her character a multi-dimensional perspective. She performed in social and historical TV series that documented some aspects of Egyptian life. She also starred in various plays including Enha Hakan A'ela Mouhtarama and El Sanyoura.

Amina Rizk is known for her sad roles where her tears were the only solace to her soul. She is often referred to as the "Crying Lady".

Rizk began acting at age 11 and performed in her first stage play, "Soad the Gypsy," when she was 15. She was one of the last survivors of a generation of actors who helped Egypt become the center of the Arab film industry beginning in the 1930s.

The actress was best known for her roles in such movies as "Land of Dreams," "I Want a Solution" and "A Beginning and an End," which was based on the novel by Egypt's Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

Rizk never married. In 1997, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appointed her to an honorary post in the parliament's upper house