Celebrating birthday of Egypt’s fair lady Shwikar

Veteran Egyptian actress and heartthrob comedian Shwikar passed away at 85 after a long struggle with illness.

On the occasion of her birthday Egypt Today sheds the light on her most important stages.

Shwikar who is of Turkish and Circassian origin was born in May 4, 1935. 

She debuted her artistic career in Alexandria in few tragic roles. 

Late Egyptian director Fateen Abdul Wahab first discovered Shwikar to work as an actress and comedian in TV, cinema and theatres.

When on-screen couples become real-life partners, that’s when the fans and media alike fall into a star-struck frenzy, following their every move, every fight and every trip. 

From comedy sweethearts Fouad El Mohandes and Shwikar.

A story of a lifetime love and friendship, the comic duo El Mohandes, better known as “El-Ostaz” (The Professor) and Shwikar, represented one of most sincere love stories born on stage. 

In 1963 El Mohandes was already established as a comedian, starring in the play “El-Secerter El-Fanny” (The Technical Secretary)—when Abdel Moneim Madbouly recommended the fresh-faced Shwikar to star opposite him. 

At the time, she was only 25 and El-Mohandes was 14 years her senior. 

Shwikar was a widow at the time, having lost her first husband Hassan Nafei, and the father of her only daughter Menna, after two years of marriage.

The two then worked together again on the play “Ana w Howa w Heya” (Me, Him and Her) in 1964 and that was when El Mohandes proposed to her—on stage, while performing. 

“Tetgaweziny ya bascota?” Marry me, cookie?)became one of the most iconic phrases depicting the golden cinema’s off-screen romance. 

They were shooting the last scene of the movie” Hareb Men El-Gawaz” (Escaping from Marriage), one where the two characters were getting married, when they headed to the maazoun (religious clerk) straight after wrapping up the scene and got married in the same outfits they wore during the scene. 

Together, they performed a number of unforgettable works on stage and on screen for more than 20 years; “Sayedaty El Gamila” (My Fair Lady) play which was taken from Shakespeare play “ Taming of the Shrew” since this play her fans dubbed her the Fair Lady.

Among the duo El Mohandes and Shwikar successful movies is “Motarada Gharameya” (A Romantic Chase), “Mister X” and many more, the last of which was in 1990. 

Their marriage was one of the most prominent unions in Egypt’s entertainment industry, and so their subsequent divorce came as quite a shock to the society and the industry 20 years later. 

They did, however, manage to turn their love into a faithful friendship that lasted until El-Mohandes died in 2006 at the age of 82. 

El Mohandes called Shwikar “the first and last love” of his life after the divorce; and Shwikar stayed by his side during his last days. 

“I loved him and I still do, this man gave me love, affection, security and tenderness and I always remember our good days. He is the love of my life, my life started with him and I worked with him and everything I made was shared with him. We were never able to separate, until the very last moments and I was with him until the last day of his life,” she had told Egypt Today in 2016. 

Aside from her duo with El Mohandes, Shwikar cinematic repertoire includes a number of important movies such as “ Sarkhet Namla” ( The scream of an ant), “ Arous el Nile” ( The Nile’s bride), “ Ta’er el Leil el Hazem” ( The bird of the Glomy Night), “ El Zawga Rakam 13” ( The Wife Number 13) among others.

She participated in a number of successful series such as “ Hawanem Garden City” ( Ladies of Garden City), “ Tarweed el Sharesa” ( Taming of the Shrew), among others. 

Shwikar managed to break the stereotype of the female Egyptian comedians who were always not beautiful to be almost the first and maybe the only Egyptian female charming beautiful comedian.

The Egyptian cinema and drama fair lady Shwikar will be immortalized in the hearts of her fans with her elegance, beauty and sense of humor.