Muna Wassef (also spelled Mona Wasef) (Arabic: منى واصف; born 1 February 1942) is a Syrian stage, film and television actress. She is also a United NationsGoodwill ambassador.[1] She is an icon in the Arab world and the Middle East. Wassef is credited for acting alongside Salah Zulfikar at the prime of her career in Memory of a Night of Love (1973). Wassef had become the highest-paid actress in the Arab World since the end of the 1970s until the year 2000; now she is one of the highest-paid actresses. Wassef is the first Syrian woman to receive the Syrian Order of Civil Merit–Excellent Degree in 2009.[2][3] Mona Wassef is most known internationally for starring in Al Hayba with Taim Hasan, streaming on Netflix. [4]
Background
When she was 15 she worked as a cotton candy (Ghazl Al Banat) seller in the streets of Damascus. By the age of 16, she worked as a women's clothes saleswoman for one of Syria's most famous fashion designers at that time, and when she turned 17 she was already working as a fashion model for the same designer, at the same time becoming a popular folk dancer in a group called Omaya.[5]
Education
Although Wassef did not finish high school, she educated herself and learned to present the majority of her works in Standard Arabic. She studied masterpieces of world literature, Quranic Tajwid and Tartil, and reciting poetry.
She traveled to East Germany in 1973 where she took acting courses at the Brecht theater. Working with the Syrian Military Theater allowed her to develop her acting skills further.
Early career
In 1960, Wassef submitted herself for a contest in which they chose actresses for the Military theater, which was part of the Syrian Ministry of Defense. She worked and learned there for about 2 years. In 1963 she married the Army GeneralMuhammad Shahin, who was a film director as well.
She worked in the symposium of Art and Thought which was sponsored by Dr. (Rafeq Al Sabagh) in presenting Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in 1963.
In 1964 she joined the Group for Dramatic Arts and starred in stage productions of the National Theater: productions such as Molière's Don Juan. This signaled the beginning of a very important stage in her career.[6]
Theater career
In theater, Muna Wassef, has starred in more than 25 plays by Arab and international playwrights. Her first play was Al Etr Al Akhdar wics. After that, she performed several plays in the Military Theatre inside the military units including:
The Merchant of Venice
Al Khajool Fe Al Kasr
Al Aamaqby (Makseem Agorky)
Donjuan
Mawta Bela Goubour
Tartuffe
Al Zeer Salem
Al Madnasa
Hekayat Hob
Al Masa Al Mutafaela
Oedipus
Al Mufatish Al Am
Haram Mali Al Wazeer
Bab al hara
Film career
Muna Wassef (second from right ) among the cast of Al-Resala (The Message)
In film, Wassef has done more than 30 films, including:
Muna stars in Seraa Ala El Remal. The television series stars actors from the Arab world including Taim Hasan, Saba Mubarak, Hasan Awaytti and Bassel Khayat and is directed by Hatem Ali and written by Hany El-Saady. The series is a major TV production. It was produced by Dubai Media Incorporated. Its estimated cost is over $6 million. So far it is the most expensive Arabic TV production ever, and it was released in September 2008. The series, which is based on the vision and poetry of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is a Bedouin epic that takes place in the Persian Gulf Bedouin desert at the beginning of the 18th century.
Ramadan 2009
In Ramadan 2009 she appeared in 4 productions. The main one is the most watched TV show in the Arab World ever, Bab Al Hara. She plays the role of a Christian woman who leads the female revolution in Damascus.
Radio career
Muna Wassef presented some works in Radio as :
Demashq Ya Nasmat Hozn.
Rohy Hayati.
Jazerat Al Marah.
Muna and the short story program which was aired weekly.
In addition to so many poetic evenings and programs.
Personal life
Muna Wassef, and her late husband military general and Film Director Muhammad Shahin, their son Ammar Abdulhamid and his wife Khawla.
Wassef has two younger sisters, Haifa and Ghada, who are also actresses. She was married to the late Syrian film DirectorMuhammad Shahin, and together they formed one of the Arab world's most popular celebrity couples. They have one son Ammar Abdulhamid, who lives in the United States, Washington, D.C., with his wife Khawla, daughter Oula (b. 1986) and son Mouhanad (b. 1990), both work in the public policy and humanitarian aid fields.
Currently, Wassef divides her time between her artistic career and her interest in issues pertaining to the emancipation of women in the Arab world.
