Tahiyyah Karyuka

Although her parents did not approve of her becoming a belly dancer, she became world renowned. Although Islam frowned upon belly dancing, she was the only one recognized with a public funeral procession. She performed in over 300 movies and television shows. She gave up dancing in 1963 but as late as the mid-1980's ran her own theater in Cairo, helping to write and choose plays, as well as directing and producing. She took to wearing the Islamic head scarf before retiring completely from public view 13 years ago. Though the hold of fundamentalist Islam on Egyptian society has virtually wiped out public manifestations of her art, she was in the end granted the official approval her parents withheld, as the Egyptian Culture Minister, Farouk Hosni, led her funeral procession. The stuff of legend, she married 14 different husbands and once slapped King Farouk when he threw an ice cube down her dress. She had roles in more than 300 movies and television shows.