Mary Queeny
Mary Queeny (Arabic: ماري كويني; born 1913-2003) was a Lebanese-born Egyptian actress and film producer.
Mary Queeny | |
|---|---|
 Queeny c. 1945 | |
| Born | Mary Boutros Younis 1913 Tannourine, Lebanon |
| Died | 2003 (aged 89–90) Cairo, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1913–2003 |
| Spouse | Ahmad Galal |
| Children | Nader Galal |
Biography
She was born Mary Boutros Younis in 1913 to a Lebanese Christian family in Lebanon. Her mother's cousin was Asaad Dagher, a writer and journalist at the Al-Ahram newspaper. In 1923 she moved to Cairo with her aunt, actress and film producer Assia Dagher.[1] She took the name Mary Queeny when she was 12. She married Egyptian film actor and director Ahmad Galal[2] in 1940. Their son is film director Nader Galal. Until her retirement in 1982, she produced all of the films he directed.[3]
Queeny became a popular actress and producer in a pioneering age of Egyptian cinema. Her first role was in 1929 in the film Ghadat al-sahara (The Desert Beauty). She went on to star in all of her aunt's subsequent films.[3] She appeared in 20 films and was among the first women in Egypt to appear on screen without a veil.[1]
With her husband she founded Galal Films in 1942; in 1944 it became Galal Studios. During the Golden Age of Egyptian film, it was one of the five largest studios.[3] In 1958 she established a film colour processing laboratory, which in 1963 she sold to the Misr Company, now Misr International, which was later acquired by Youssef Chahine and his niece, Marianne Khoury.[1]
Queeny died on 23 November 2003 in Cairo of a heart attack. She was 90.[1]
Selected filmography
Actress
- Pangs Of Conscience (1931)
- When A Woman Loves (1933)
- Rebellious Girl (1940)(in which she took her first leading role)
- Prisoner No 17 (1949)
- The Seventh Wife (1950)
- Sacrificing My Love (1951).
- Women Without Men (1953), the last in which she acted, was made by Egypt's leading living director, Youssef Chahine
Producer
- Dawn of a New Day (1965)
References
- ^ a b c d Issa, Rose (1 January 2004). "Obituary: Mary Queeny". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ahmad Galal". imdb.
- ^ a b c Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. Cairo: American Univ. in Cairo Press. p. 32. ISBN 977-424-943-7.
External links
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