Farid El Atrache - Biography
The "King of the Oud," Farid el Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian composer, pop singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor. Over more than four decades he recorded 350 songs and starred in 31 movies. He composed songs for top Arab singers, including his sister, Asmahan, as well as Wadih El-Safi, Shadia, Warda, and Sabah.
Sometimes referred to as 'King of the Oud', he is one of the most important figures of 20th Century Arab music.
Farid el Atrache (???? ???????) was born October 19th, 1915 in Suwayda, Syria into a Druze family. His father was Syrian and his mother Lebanese. His father fought in against the French colonial army and his mother, Aliyah, sang and played the oud. When he was about nine, he, his mother and his sister, Asmahan, moved to Egypt to escape the French occupation. As a child and young adult, Farid sang in school events. He studied in a music conservatory and became an apprentice of the renowned composer Riyad as-Sunbaty. In the 1930s, Farid began his professional singing career by working for privately owned Egyptian radio stations. Eventually, he was hired as an oud player for the national radio station and later as a singer.
In 1941, he and his sister starred in their first successful movie, Intisar al-chabab (1941), followed by Ahlam el chabab (1943). With success came nightclubs, love affairs and gambling and Farid quickly found himself in debt and disowned by his mother. To make matters worse, in 1944, Asmahane died in a car accident while filming Gharam wa intiqam. Farid eventually settled down with belly-dancer Samia Gamal. El-Atrash went on toe appear in more musicals, including Shahr el asal (1946), Ma akdarshi (1946), Gamal wa Dalal (1946) and Bolbol effendi (1946).
In 1947, he produced and co-starred in a movie with his lover, Gamal, Habib al omr (1947), which was hugely popular. However, to Gamal’s displeasure, el Atrache still refused to get married, believing that matrimony is detrimental to creativity. After starring together in Ahebbak inta (1949), Afrita hanem (1949), Akher kedba (1950) and Taa la salim (1951) when after eleven years of dating, the couple broke up and the following year she married Shepard King.
Prior to the 1952 military coup against King Farouk I, Farid was friendly with Farouk's consort, Queen Nariman. After the queen’s divorce, their relationship continued until her family’s disapproval led to their separation, around which time el Atrache’s health grew steadily worse. Nonetheless, he continued to act and sing, starring in Ma takulshi la hada (1952), Lahn al khouloud (1952), Ayza atgawwez (1952), Lahn hubi (1954), Risalat Gharam (1954), Ahdil Hawa (1955), Oussit Hobi (1955), Izhay ansak (1956), Wadda'tu hubbak (1957), Inta habibi (1957), Maleesh Gheirak (1958), Min agl Hobbi (1960), Shatie el hub (1961), Yomun bala ghaden (1962), Ressalah min emraa maghoula (1963), Hikayet el omr kulluh (1965), el-Khouroug min el guana (1967), al-Hob al kabir (1969). As Farid became older, he reconsidered his opinion of marriage and proposed to Egyptian singer named Fatima "Shadia" Ahmad Kamal although he backed out in the eleventh hour. After starring in his final film, Zaman Ya Hob (1973), el Atrache lost weight and his singing became raspy. On December 26, 1974, Farid died in Beirut, Lebanon at Al Hayek hospital, shortly after arriving from London. Farid is buried in Cairo, Egypt. His last movie, Nagham Fi Hayati (1975), was released after his death.
