Mounir Mourad

Mounir Mourad or Monir Morad ( ar, منير مراد, 13 January 1922 - 17 October 1981), born Maurice Zaki Mourad Mordechai, was an Egyptian singer, actor and composer of popular songs. His compositions included film songs for famous stars such as Sharifa Fadel und Sabah, as well as duets for Egyptian actress Shadia and actor Abdel Halim Hafez. He played the leading roles in a few Egyptian films, the most famous being "Wishing you a Good Day" (Naharak Sa'id).

Biography

Mourad was born in Cairo and grew up as youngest of five children in a musical family. His father Ibrahim Zaki Mourad Mordechai was a famous Jewish Egyptian singer, musician and composer in the early 20th century. His mother was a Jewish Egyptian called Gamilah Ibrahim Roushou, the daughter of Ibrahim Roushou, a local concert contractor, who regularly booked Zaki Mourad to sing at concerts and wedding parties. When Mounir was growing up, his sister, the singer and actress Leila Mourad was already famous and singing on Egyptian radio.

In 1939, Mourad left his French college Collège des Frères (Bab al-Louq), took various jobs, and then entered the field of cinema, first as a script supervisor, and later as assistant director to Kamal Salim in about 24 films in the 1940s.

Mourad was one of the most popular composers of film songs of his time and composed music for several popular singers from Egypt in his personal style, often characterised by rapid rhythms. Among these was his music for the 1953 film ''Dahab'', starring and directed by Egyptian actor Anwar Magdi, who was also his sister's husband.

Mourad attempted to compose film music with Western influences, but faced difficulties to find a producer. His breakthrough, however, came when he composed his first popular song "One, Two" ("Wahed .. Etneen") sung by Shadia. His association with popular actress and singer Shadia was a milestone in the history of Egyptian music, as their songs have become classic songs of romance. This opened the way for other singers and filmmakers to entrust him to compose songs for their movies.

Further, Mourad was a pioneer in dance music and musical shows. He composed and developed much of Egypt's famous dance music, performed by leading dancers of the time, such as Tahiya Karioka, Samia Gamal, and Naima Akef. In his autobiographical book about Jewish Arabs, journalist Massoud Hayoon called him "a sort of Egyptian Gene Kelly".

Mourad performed as actor, dancer and singer in three movies, among them ''Ana wa Habibi'' (''My Love and I'') with Shadia in 1953. In 1948, Mourad converted to Islam, like his sister Leila Mourad. In the 1950s, he married actress Soher Al Bably.

Reception

On their 2007 album Hey Eugene!, American music group Pink Martini included their version of Mourad's song "Bukra w'bado" (Tomorrow and the day after), originally sung by Egyptian star Abdel Halim Hafez.Pink Martini, Hey Eugene!, 2007, booklet, Heinz Records

See also

* Cinema of Egypt

References

External links

*
Discography of more than 100 songs by Mounir Mourad
at Discogs
Video of a song and dance scene with Mounir Mourad
on YouTube
Film scene with Mourad and Shadia singing "Ana wa Habibi"
on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourad, Mounir
1922 births
1981 deaths
Egyptian composers
Egyptian male film actors
Egyptian people of Jewish descent
Egyptian Muslims
20th-century Egyptian male singers
20th-century Egyptian male actors
Singers who perform in Egyptian Arabic
Jewish male actors
Jewish singers
Collège des Frères (Bab al-Louq) alumni
Converts to Islam from Judaism
20th-century composers