Egypt’s iconic singer and actress Shadia has died at the age of 86 after spending few weeks in a hospital, state television reported on Tuesday.

She was admitted into a hospital earlier this month after suffering brain stroke.

Ms. Shadia, whose real name is Fatma Shaker, was one of Egypt’s most famous actresses and singers in the 1950 and 1960s.

Born in 1931, she started her career as a singer before starring in more than 100 films, including several political productions based on novels by Egypt’s Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

She retired in the mid-1980s.

(dpa/NAN)