Date of birth
December 3, 1921, Cairo

Birth name
Hanuma Khalil Ali

Madiha Yusri's first scene in the movies was in Mohammad Karim's "mamnou al-Hob" (Banned love) with famous singer/actor Mohammad Abdel-Wahab.

In 1942, she was offered the lead role in Kamal Selim's "Ahlam al-Shabab" (Dreams of the Young) opposite Farid al-Atrach. The movie was an immediate success. Yusri became an accredited star.

The 1950s saw her starring in such films as Henri Barakat's "amir al-intiqam" (Prince of Vengeance), Niyazi Mustafa's "min ayn laka haza?"(Where does all that come from?),Kamal al-Sheikh's "mo'amara" (Conspiracy) and "ard al-ahlam" (Land of dreams) and Ezzedin Zulfaqqar's "eni rahela" (I am leaving), the latter of which remains one of the Egyptian cinema's greatest classics.

Despite her success, Yusri complained that directors had imprisoned her in the role of the aristocrat. In an attempt to break away, she agreed to play the down-trodden, ordinary people in the films: "ibn al-hadad" (Blacksmith's son) and "al-massri affendi". She also starred in two Egypt-Iraq co-productions: Ibrahim Helmi's "ibn al-sharq" (Son of the Orient) (1946) and Ahmad Badrakhan's Baghdad (1947).

As film producer, Yusri graced the Egyptian cinema with 18 films including "al-avocato Madiha" (Madiha, Attorney at Law) opposite Yussef Wahbi and "banat Hawa" (Eve's daughters) opposite Mohammad Fawzi.

Yusri also participated in a number of television series including "hawanem Garden City" (The Garden City dames), "yahya al-adl" (Long live justice) and "ta'er al-unq" (The Albatros).

With her first husband singer/composer Mohammad Amin, Yusri established a production company which enriched Egyptian cinema with numerous movies over a period of 4 years, the duration of their marriage. In 1946, she married director Ahmad Salem. The marriage, however, was doomed not to last. They divorced and she married singer/composer Mohammad Fawzi, with whom she starred in several movies including, "Fatma Marica and Rachelle", her first attempt at comedy.