Mary Queeny (Arabic: ماري كويني; 1913–2003) is the stage name of Mary Boutros Younis, 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 | Ahmed (or Ahmad) Galal |
| Children | Nader Galal |
Early life
editMary Boutros Younis was born 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.[1]
Career
editIn 1923 Queeny moved to Cairo with her aunt, actress and film producer Assia Dagher, and started acting in 1929.[1] Her first role was in 1929 in the film Ghadat al-sahara (The Desert Beauty), and she went on to star in all of her aunt's subsequent films.[2]
Queeny became a popular actress and producer in a pioneering age of Egyptian cinema.[2] She appeared in 20 films and was among the first women in Egypt to appear on screen without a veil.[1]
Queeny married Ahmed (or Ahmad) Galal[3][4] (1897-1947)[5] in 1940.[6] Until her retirement in 1982, she produced all of the films he directed.[2] 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.[2] The first films shot at the studios were Om al-Saad, Amirat al-Ahlam (Princess of Dreams) and 'Aoudat al-Gha'eb (The Return of the Departed). After her husband's sudden death in 1947, Queeny and her son, Nader Galal, continued to run the studios.[7] The studios were later nationalised by the Nasser government.[2]
In 1958 she established a film colour processing laboratory, which in 1963 she sold to the Misr Company (later Misr International), which was later acquired by Youssef Chahine and his niece, Marianne Khoury.[1]
Personal life and death
editFilm director Nader Galal is the son of Queeny and Ahmad Galal.[2] Ahmed Nader Galal is their grandson, son of Nader, and is an actor. He graduated from the directing course at the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo 1997.[4]
Queeny died on 23 November 2003 in Cairo of a heart attack. She was 90.[1]
Selected filmography
editActress
edit- Ghadat al-sahara (1929)
- 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, directed by Youssef Chahine
Producer
edit- Dawn of a New Day (1965)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Issa, Rose (1 January 2004). "Obituary: Mary Queeny". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c d e f Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers. Cairo: American Univ. in Cairo Press. p. 32. ISBN 977-424-943-7.
- ^ Ahmad Galal(1897-1947) at IMDb Note: Credited as Ahmed Galal.
- ^ a b "Ahmed Nader Galal". elCinema.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "Ahmed Galal". elCinema.com. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "L'Egypte dans l'Histoire". Ahraminfo (in French). Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ Helmy, Samy; Queeny, Mary (1953). "Schaduf". Schaduf. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
La Revue International du Cinéma, Numéro 16, 1953. This article was first published in print in RAWI's Issue 9, 2018
