Mohamed Marie

A Lebanese singer-actor, born in 1922, who received his basic education in Beirut schools. The beauties of nature and the sea atmosphere that he experienced shaped his personality as a person with a sensitive feeling. He was accustomed from childhood to listening to authentic oriental singing. This qualified him to be one of the three most important singers in Lebanon at that time, alongside Wadih Al-Safi and Nasri Shams Al-Din. His contributions did not stop at the level of Lebanon, and he traveled to several Arab countries and sang for the most famous Arab composers, such as Riyad Al-Sunbati, Muhammad Al-Muji, and Kamal Al-Taweel Muhammad Marhi spent a period of time in Egypt, hoping to get his chance at fame. He participated in the movie “First Love” in 1956 and played a major role as an actor and singer with Samia Gamal, Abdel Salam Al-Nabulsi, and Hassan Fayek. He presented his song “No, Oh Solutions,” written by Morsi Jamil Aziz and composed by Kamal Al-Taweel, and the song achieved widespread fame in Egypt, which angered Abdel Halim Hafez at the time, and he also sang in the movie. “We are lovers,” “My heart is fighting with me,” and “His hazel eyes hurt me.” The biggest shock for Mohamed Merhi was that his film was screened with films by singing stars of that period, such as “A Love Date” by Abdel Halim, “How Can I Forget You” by Farid Al-Atrash, and “Kilo 99” by Abdel Ghani Al-Sayyed. From here, he found himself facing unfair competition that was not devoid of bad intentions from some singers who felt a little jealous towards him, and he decided to return to Lebanon because he was unable to keep up with these conditions. This remained his only cinematic experience in Egypt that preceded it. He participated in singing with his voice only in Egyptian films. He later tried to compensate for this experience with singing films that were produced and filmed in Lebanon. He sang and acted in the film “The Ring Seller” 1965, directed by Youssef Chahine, with the singer Fayrouz, Nasri Shams El Din, and Philemon Wehbe. It is considered one of the most important musical and show films in Lebanese cinema. Mohamed Merhi played the role of the “fortune teller” in the film, and he returned and participated. With the movie “Al-Safar Barnak” 1967, with Fairouz and Ihsan Sadiq and directed by Barakat, the roles and characters presented by Mohamed Merhi remained a special imprint in the theater and he participated in a group of musical plays in which the common denominator was that they were composed by the Rahbani brothers and the singing and acting of Fairouz, Nasri Shams El-Din and Hoda Haddad. The first musical play in which he participated was “Selling the Rings” in 1964 before it was turned into a movie, as we mentioned, and the play “Days.” Fakhr al-Din” in 1966, the play “Hala and the King” in 1967, which was performed at the Piccadilly Theater in Beirut. He played this work in the role of “The Counselor”, and on the Baalbek Festival Theater, the singer Sabah participated in the musical “The Wheels of Fancy” in 1965. On the television screens of Lebanon and the Arab countries in the 1960s, people watched the series “Qisma wa Nasib” starring Mohamed Merhi, Hoda Haddad, Elie Choueiri, and Joseph Nassif. Merhi appeared in this work as “Youssef Al-Dabsha,” the antique dealer who tries to marry “Hoda” despite the age difference between them. The episodes included a group of adventures and chases, and each episode included a group of singing sketches by Mohamed Merhi, Hoda Haddad, and others. This work, despite the weak capabilities, At that time, however, he was a popular success and no work equivalent to him appeared after that. Among the singing programs produced and presented by Lebanon TV were “Lail Notebooks” and “Diyat Al-Aghani” in which Mohamed Marei participated in acting and singing as well, in the famous series “Ghawar Pranks” in 1967 by Duraid Lahham and Nihad Qalai sang in this series his famous song “Oh Latif, when it is sweet.. sweets.. walnuts with her eyes.”