| Achraf Wassim |
1910, Ameena Muhammad Rezk was born in Tanta (Delta of Egypt) where she joined the elementary school and would watch the circus during “Mouled al-Sayyed al-Badawy”, which gave her a taste for performing. Following the death of her father, Rezk moved to Cairo with her mother, grandmother and Aunt Ameena Muhammad, an aspiring actress with whom Rezk would sneak out to visit the nightly carnival at “Rod al-Farag” on the banks of the Nile. Muhammad acted with the Ramses troupe, established by Youssef Wahby. Inspired by her aunt, Rezk also began acting and, at the age of 13, won a supporting role in a stage production of ‘Rasputin’ next to Youssef Wahby. Her performance was impressive enough to ensure she became a valued member of the company, acting in approximately 500 plays until the troupe’s dissolution in 1944, and her friendship with Wahby endured until his death in 1982. Wahby tried unsuccessfully attempt to revive the company five times over the next twenty-six years, and Rezk always made herself available for his productions at these times.
In 1928, Rezk embarked on a film career that would span eight decades when she appeared in the title role of Stelio Chiarini’s “Souaad al-ghagareyyaa i.e. Souaad the gypsy). Four years later, she appeared in “Awlaad al-thawaat i.e. Sons of Aristocrats”, Egypt’s first talkie.
Although she never married - apart from, as she would regularly claim, the theatre - Rezk carved a niche for herself in motherly roles, including the part of a young Omar Sharif’s mother in Salaah Abu-Seif’s “Bedaaya wa nehaaya i.e. Dead among the living (1960)”. In addition to films and plays, Rezk regularly appeared on Egyptian TV and radio.
In 1997, Rezk became the first female artist to be appointed to the “Shoura Council”, the lower legislative body of the Egyptian government.
Rezk, a much-loved figure in Egyptian cinema, died of heart failure in a Cairo hospital on 24th August 2003, just two months after giving her final performance.
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