Six facts you need to know about Zeinat Sedky

CAIRO – 2 March 2019: Her unique sense of humor engraved her love in our hearts despite that it has been over 40 years since her death.

Veteran comedian Zeinat Sedky managed to draw the smile on our faces for many years and she still does through her funny genuine performance.

Egypt Today presents six facts about the late renowned comedian.

1. Sedky was born in Alexandria governorate in 1913. Her passion with acting drove her to study at the “Ansar el Tamseel” (Acting Supporters) Institute, which was founded by veteran Egyptian actor and director Zaki Tolimat, but her father pushed her to quit studying and marry at an early age. Her marriage lasted only for one year before she was divorced.

2. She started her career first as a singer with some small troupes before being discovered by the legendary Egyptian actor Naguib el-Rihany, giving her the first role in one of his plays.


Naguib al-Rihani and Zeinat Sedky

3. Sedky starred with most of the great artists at the time such as Youssef Wahby, Ismail Yassin, Shadia, Abdel Halim Hafez, Anwar Wagdy among others. Her cinematic repertoire contains more than 400 movies.

4. Sedky was famous for performing the role of the funny maiden, a woman who always insults, and the loyal maid who always supports her lady.

5. She was one of the female comedy pioneers in the Egyptian cinema along with Mary Mounib and Wedad Hamdy, despite this fact, at the end of her career, her stardom started to decline, the matter that drove Sedky to sell her furniture in order to cover her expenses. The actor who made millions laugh, found nobody at the end of her life to console her. Everyone turned their backs on her until former Egyptian president Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat gave her an award at The Art Feast in 1976 and granted her an exceptional pension.


Late President Anwar el-Sadat honoring Zeinat Sedky

6. She suffered from plenty of health problems before her death including pulmonary edema. Her last movie was entitled “Bent Esmha Mahmoud” (A Girl Named Mahmoud), which was six years before her death. Sedky Died on 1978 leaving behind a large history of undying movies that will continue live on ever after.