Zahra al-‘Oula Bakir was born in the district of Muharram Bey in Alexandia to a family originally from al-Mahala. Her talents for acting and imitation were apparent when she was in secondary school. Her father was a friend of Youssif Wahbi and so he presented her to him and she enrolled at the Acting Institute with the help of Zaki Tuleiman. Zahra acted in several plays including “Hourriyah men al-Mareekh”, “al-Bakheel” (“The Miser”), Mareed bi al-Wahm” (“Illusory Illness”), “Fattish ‘an al-Maraa” (“Look for the Woman”), “al-Ghabi wa Anna” (“The Idiot and Myself”) and “Sab’a Farkhat wa Deek” (“Seven Hens and a Rooster”). Thereafter she was assigned major cinema roles. Zahra enjoyed a romantic aura and she received a diploma from the Higher Institute for Cinema in 1954. Zahra was the first in her class and she continued her stage career on modern theater. Zahra married Salah Zu al-Faqqar and later director Hassan al-Saifi. Among the television series which she has acted in are “Waffiyat Nas Tayebeen”. Zahra was honored at the Feature Films Festival. While a youth, Zahra represented the model of the innocent and suppressed girl. She has not portrayed any evil characters as her appearance does not lend itself to such roles. Zahra also acted in “Radd Qalbi”, “Du’aa al-Karwan” and “Tareeq al-Amal”. Despite the fact that she has acted in some comedies her roles were generally not comedic.
