Italian (not Egyptian!) actress. 1908-1973. Her
breakthrough film was Roberto Rossellini's Open City in 1945, generally regarded as the first commercially successful Italian neorealist film of the postwar years. Won an Academy Award for her performance in the screen version of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.
Worked with all of Italy's leading directors of the 1950's, '60's, and '70's. Famous for her earthy, passionate, ``woman-of-the-soil" roles. Last film was Fellini's Roma, made one year before her death.