Leila Mourad


Leila Mourad or Layla Morad was a Jewish-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 in the El Daher District in Cairo, she later changed her name to Leila Mourad as a stage name. Leila married three times and divorced three times. She died in 1995.

Life

Leila Mourad was born on February 17, 1918, to Zaki Mourad and Gamilah Ibrahim Roushou, the daughter of Ibrahim Roushou, a local concert contractor in the early 20th century who regularly booked Zaki Mourad to sing at concerts and wedding parties. Her father was a respected singer, musician, and religious Jewish cantor. One of her brothers, Mounir Mourad, was an actor and composer.
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 " 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, and Howa el dala'a ya'ani khessam. Further success came when the prominent Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab heard her singing and provided her with a role in his film Yahya el Hob in 1938. In the six years following the success of Yahya el Hob she made five commercially successful films with director Togo Mizrahi, becoming one of Egypt's top actresses. In 1945 she starred in Layla Bint al-Fuqara 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, 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, over Umm Kulthum, as the official singer of the Egyptian revolution. Shortly thereafter, a rumor that Mourad had visited Israel, where she had family, and donated money to its military, raised suspicions of spying and caused some Arab radio stations to boycott her. She denied these allegations, insisting she is a Muslim. No proof was found that she had contributed money to Israel's military; the Egyptian government investigated and concluded that the charges against the singer were without foundation,, but there was no denial that she may have sent money to other members of her family who had fled to Israel.
Her decision to retire, aged 38, came with the failure of her last film, Al Habib al Majhoul, the banning of her song, With Unity, Order, and Work, praising the Free Officers and the outbreak of the 1956 war. Anti-Semitism was virulent in Egypt at the time. Despite the immense popularity of her films her singing career was over-shadowed by Um Kulthum who dominated Egypt's musical landscape and, in 1949, had become president of the Musicians' Union. In the early 1950s other singers became popular with younger audiences, such as Abdel al Halim Hafez, whose song Jesus claimed that the Jews today are the same as those who pursued Jesus.
Leila Mourad converted to Islam in 1946 a few months after marrying Egyptian actor Anwar Wagdy, over the objection of her father, as intermarriage with Muslims in Egypt means that the offspring are by law Muslims, regardless of the parents' wishes. In a television interview with famed Egyptian TV presenter Mona el-Shazly, her son Zaki Fatin Abdel Wahab denied any rift between her and her family after her conversion and added that her conversion was her own decision without any pressure from her Muslim husband. It's notable that her only sister Sameeha and her brother Mounir Mourad, a famous musician in his own rght, have also converted to Islam.
Leila Mourad made a few brief reappearances during Ramadan in 1970, when she was scheduled to read Salah Jahin's Fawazeer Ramadan, a daily traditional radio program held during the Holy month of Ramadan. During that time, some Egyptian Jewish men between the ages of 17 and 60-65 were subjected to arrest, and were incarcerated in the prisons of Abu Zabal and Tura. Her brother, Ishak Mourad, was one of the Jewish prisoners. While families could occasionally visit the incarcerated Jews, neither she, her sister Sameeha nor her other brother Mounir Mourad were ever seen visiting Ishak.
Leila Mourad died in a Cairo hospital in 1995 and her funeral held at the Sayida Nefeesa mosque in Cairo.

Marriages

Leila Mourad married Anwar Wagdi, over the objection of her father. She married him and divorced. Leila gave the reason for her divorce as the fact that she was not fully aware of the seriousness of Wagdi's illness, one that made him constantly irritable and difficult to live with. Yet, According to the book, "Laila Mourad, the Muslim Jewish star of Egypt", she accused him of being behind the accusations that she contributed to the Israeli military. According to the same book, she had an out of wedlock child from a relationship with a regime officer, who never acknowledged that he was the father. Then she married a film director Fatin Abdel Wahab in 1957 and she gave birth to their son Zaki Fatin Abdel Wahab, and finally divorced in 1969.

Discography

Almost all of Laila Mourad's most popular songs are from her musical films.
  • "Yama Arak El-Nasim" from Yahya El-Hob
  • "Ghany Ya Tair" from Laila Bint Madares
  • "Meen Yishtary El-Ward Minni" from Laila
  • "El-Habib" from Laila
  • "Hagabt Noorak Anny" from Laila
  • "Elli fi Albo Haga Yis'alny" from Laila, Daughter of the Poor
  • "Leila Gameelah" from Laila, Daughter of the Poor
  • "Ehna El-Etnein" from Laila, Daughter of the Poor
  • "Monaya fi Korbak" from Al-Madi Al-Majhoul
  • "Enta Sa'ida" from Alby Dalili
  • "Edhak Karkar" from Alby Dalili
  • "Alby Dalili" from Alby Dalili
  • "Sa'alt Aleh" from Anbar
  • "Dous Al-Donya" from Anbar
  • "Etmakhtary Ya Kheil" from Ghazal El-Banat
  • "El Hob Gameel" from Ghazal El-Banat
  • "Abgad Hawaz" from Ghazal el-Banat
  • "Einy Betref" a duet with the Egyptian actor "Naguib AlRaihani", from Ghazal El-Banat
  • "El Donya Ghenwa" from Ghazal el-Banat
  • "Ya Msafer W Nasy Hawak" from Shati' Al-Gharam
  • "El-Maya Wel Hawa" from Shati' Al-Gharam
  • "Ya Aaz Min Einy" from Shati' Al-Gharam
  • "Hakak Alaya" from Habib Al-Rouh
  • "Es'al Alaya" from Al-Hayat Al-Hob
  • "Otlob Enaya" from Al-Hayat Al-Hob
  • "Leh Khaletni Ahebbak" from Al-Habib Al-Majhoul
  • "Bil Nizam Wal-Amal Wal-Etihad" An anthem for the Egyptian Revolution that was commissioned by the new government led by President Mohamed Naguib. This song was banned when Gemal Abdelnasser ousted Naguib.
  • "Sanatein W Ana Ahayel Feek"

    Filmography

Laila Mourad has starred in 27 film between 1938 and 1955. This list does not include her appearance in El-Dahaya in which she only recorded songs for the film, but did not actually appear in it.
NameEnglish TranslationCo-StarRelease dateDirector
Yahya El-HobViva Love!Mohammed Abdel WahabJanuary 24, 1938Mohammed Karim
Fi Laila MomteraOn a Rainy NightYoussef WahbiOctober 12, 1939Togo Mizrahi
Laila Bint ElreefLaila the Village GirlYoussef WahbiJanuary 2, 1941Togo Mizrahi
Laila Bint MadaresLaila the SchoolgirlYoussef WahbiOctober 16, 1941Togo Mizrahi
LailaLaila Hussein SidkyApril 2, 1942Togo Mizrahi
Laila fil ZalamLaila in the DarkHussein SidkyFebruary 24, 1944Togo Mizrahi
Shohada'a Al-GharamMartyrs of LoveIbrahim HammoudaOctober 19, 1944Kamal Selim
Laila Bint El-Foqara'aLaila, Daughter of the PoorAnwar WagdiNovember 5, 1945Anwar Wagdi
Laila Bint El-AghniyaLaila, Daughter of the RichAnwar WagdiOctober 28, 1946Anwar Wagdi
Almadi AlmajhoulUnknown PastAhmad SalemApril 8, 1946Ahmad Salem
Darbat Al-QadrStroke of LuckYoussef WahbiJanuary 13, 1947Youssef Wahbi
Khatem SuleimanSuleiman's RingZaki RostomFebruary 17, 1947Hassan Ramzy
Shadiat Al-WadySongstress of the ValleyYoussef WahbiApril 7, 1947Youssef Wahbi
Alby DaliliMy Heart is My GuideAnwar WagdiOctober 6, 1947Anwar Wagdi
Alhawa Wal ShababLove and YouthAnwar WagdiJanuary 5, 1948Niazi Mostafa
AnbarLady AnbarAnwar WagdiNovember 1, 1948Anwar Wagdi
Al-MajnunaThe MadwomanMohamed FawziJanuary 31, 1949Helmy Rafla
Ghazal al-BanatThe Flirtation of GirlsNaguib el-RihaniSeptember 22, 1949Anwar Wagdi
Shati' Al-GharamThe Shore of LoveHussein SidkyFebruary 20, 1950Henry Barakat
Adam wa Hawa'aAdam and EveHussein SidkyMay 7, 1951Hussein Sidky
Habib Al-RouhSoulmateAnwar WagdiOctober 8, 1951Anwar Wagdi
Ward Al-GharamFlowers of LoveMohamed FawziDecember 10, 1951Henry Barakat
Min Al-Qalb Lal-QalbHeart to HeartKamal el-ShennawiFebruary 26, 1952Henry Barakat
Sayidat Al-QitarLady of the TrainYehia ChahineAugust 28, 1952Youssef Chahine
Bint El-AkaberDaughter of the GreatAnwar WagdiFebruary 9, 1953Anwar Wagdi
Al-Hayat Al-HobLife is LoveYehia ChahineApril 5, 1954Seifeddine Shawkat
Al-Habib Al-MajhoulThe Unknown LoverHussein SidkyMay 23, 1955Hassan Al-Saify