Leila Mourad
Leila Mourad or Layla Morad (Arabic: ليلى مراد; February 17, 1918 – November 21, 1995) was an Egyptian singer and actress, and one of the most prominent superstars in Egypt and the entire Arab world in her era. Born Lilian Zaki Ibrahim Mourad to an Egyptian Jewish family, known for their patriotism in 1918 in the El Daher District in Cairo, she later changed her name to Leila Mourad as a stage-name. She made her first stage appearance, aged nine, at the Saalat Badi'a, one of Cairo's most successful Music Halls. The theatre had been founded in 1926 by the actress and dancer Badia Masabni, who became Mourad's patron. Her first film appearance, aged fifteen, was in the 1932 " Al-Dahaaya " (The Victims) which had originally been made as a silent film. Her song, The Day of Departure, was added as part of the transformation of the production into a "talkie".
She was trained by her father and Dawood Hosni, who was also Jewish. Hosni had composed the first operetta in the Arabic language, and he composed two songs for Leila: Hairana Leh Bein El-Eloub (Why can't you choose from among lovers), and Howa el dala'a ya'ani khessam (Does daliance mean avoiding me?). Further success came when the prominent Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab heard her singing and gave her a role in his film Yahia el Hob (Viva Love!) in 1938. In the six years following the success of Yahia el Hob she made five best selling films with director Togo Mizrahi, becoming Egypt's top actress. In 1945 she made Layla Bint al-Fuqara ("Layla, daughter of the poor") directed by Anwar Wagdi whom she married shortly after. She went on to make a further 20 films of which the most outstanding is Ghazel el-Banat ("The Flirtation of Girls"), also directed and co-starring Wagdi. It also featured Nagib al-Rihani and Abdel Wahab in their last appearances on film.
In 1953, she was selected as the official singer of the Egyptian revolution. Shortly thereafter, a rumor that Mourad had visited Israel and donated money to its military raised suspicions of spying and caused some Arab radio stations to boycott her. She denied these allegations, no proof was found; and the charges against the singer were eventually dropped. Her decision to retire, aged 38, came with the failure of her last film, Al Habib al Majhoul (The Unknown Lover), the banning of her song, With Unity, Order, and Work, praising the Free Officers 1952 revolution and the outbreak of the 1956 war. Despite the immense popularity of her films, her singing career was over-shadowed by Um Kulthum who dominated Egypt's musical landscape. Leila Mourad made a few brief reappearances during Ramadan in 1970, when she was scheduled to read Salah Jaheen's "Fawazeer Ramadan" (Ramadan' puzzles), a daily traditional radio program held during the Holy month of Ramadan.
Leila Mourad died in a Cairo hospital in 1995.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 4.928 |
Birthday | 1918-02-17 |
Place of Birth | Egypt |
Also Known As | ليليان زكي مراد موردخاي, ليلى مراد, Layla Mourad, |
1948
Love and Youth
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Directed by Niazi Mostafa.
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Love and Youth
1941
Layla the Country Girl
0/0
Laila is a rich rural girl raised by her aunt who succeeds in marrying her off to her son, a doctor who just returned from England. But the doctor liv...
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Layla the Country Girl
1946
Layla, Daughter of the Rich
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Layla, Daughter of the Rich
1946
Leila, Daughter of the Poor
0/0
Directed by Anwar Wagdi.
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Leila, Daughter of the Poor
1949
The Flirtation of Girls
7.3/11
Hamam is a poor Arabic language teacher who gets sacked from a girls' elementary school for not being able to control mischievous students. He feels p...
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The Flirtation of Girls
1938
Long Live Love!
0/0
Egyptian film directed by Mohammed Karim.
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Long Live Love!
1947
Solomon's Ring
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Musical from the Egyptian Golden Age of cinema.
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Solomon's Ring
1942
Leila, ghadet el camelia
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A night film adapted from the story of Ghada al-Kamiliya produced in 1942 and directed by Togo Mizrahi
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Leila, ghadet el camelia
1944
Victims of Love
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Two teenagers fall in love, but their feuding families and fate itself cause the relationship to end in tragedy.
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Victims of Love
1952
The Lady on the Train
6/1
Fikria is a singer who's married to Farid ,the gambling addict. When she's traveling by train, she gets in an accident and a peasant treats her. After...
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The Lady on the Train
1955
El Habeb El Maghool
6/1
Laila falls for Dr. Hussein who decides to marry her so that he could take on the responsibility for her heart surgery. Laila starts to believe that H...
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El Habeb El Maghool
1947
My Heart is My Guide
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My Heart is My Guide
1951
Flowers of Love
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Latif, Abdul-Ghani’s son, asks to marry Elham, Tayseer’s daughter. Elham refuses this marriage. Latif spreads rumors about Elham’s behavior, and Tayse...
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Flowers of Love
1948
Anbar
0/0
Vim Anbar is a lyrical comedy film starring Laila Murad and Anwar Wagdy with a group of stars who participated with Laila Murad in singing the song th...
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Anbar
1950
Shore of Love
6/1
Leila Mourad one of the Orient's Divas stars in this classic musical romance as a poor girl who marries a wealthy young man while others try to break...
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Shore of Love
1954
Life is Love
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Layla is a volunteer nurse at the red crescent helping the injured in Palestinian war. She falls in love with officer Adel , and during a raid he gets...
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Life is Love
1941
Layla The Schoolgirl
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The strict lawyer Yusuf receives his orphan cousin Laila at his place after she finishes her studies. She brings a fun and cheerful atmosphere to the...
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Layla The Schoolgirl
1947
Singer of the Valley
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After the artist Wahid Fakhry travels around the world, he returns to Egypt to search for new talent for his impending project. He finds what he is lo...
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Singer of the Valley
1953
بنت الاكابر
7/1
The film belongs to a series of films like Anwar Wagdy, with his wife Laila Murad, who promoted the idea of alienating class differences between peopl...
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بنت الاكابر
1946
The Unknown Past
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The Unknown Past
1944
Layla in the dark
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Hussein and Laila are children who pledge to love. Circumstances separate them and they meet after they grow up and their feelings are renewed, but La...
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Layla in the dark
1951
Adam and Eve
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Two friends, Sami, a journalist, and Mukhtar, a businessman, marry two sisters, Fatima and Azza, in one night. Over time, the lives of the two sisters...
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Adam and Eve
1951
Soul Lover
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The famous artist Youssef Fahmy discovers Laila's talent for singing. He encourages her to sing professionally against the wishes of her husband, Wahi...
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Soul Lover
1953
Bent Al-Akaber
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Laila is a beautiful and delicate woman. She lives with her grandfather in the Grand Palace, and he forbids her from going out or meeting strangers. T...
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Bent Al-Akaber
1952
Men Al-Qalb Lel Qalb
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Latfa works in cabarets and earns money by hunting and deceiving customers. Sherif Bey, a friend of her late father, helps her in this. She meets a we...
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Men Al-Qalb Lel Qalb
1935
The Victims
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Galal is a policeman who devotes his time to his job. He loves his cousin Bahiga, but she cannot wed before her older sister Nazik, who loves Galal an...
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The Victims
1947
ضربة القدر
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