He is one of the greatest representatives of Arab cinema in the 20th century. He was born in Sharqia. He is the brother of Salah Sarhan, Sami Sarhan and the singer Suzanne Attieh. His first film was "La Halibu" with the late Naima Akef, directed by Hussein Fawzi in 1949, and was chosen by the international director Youssef Chahine for his film "Son of the Nile" in 1951, which was the real start of his star, Mahabeel, "" young woman "," dead end ", and other works. He was nicknamed the Time of the Screen. He was honored by the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser with the State Medal. He received many awards, as well as the most prestigious awards he received in his films in the film "Night of the capture of Fatima" with Fatin Hamama in 1984 by the late director Henry Barakat, He is the best actor and has many radio and television works. His cinematic record is 150 films from "La Halibu" in 1949 to "Jablawi" 1991 I'tikaaf in the last days of reading the Holy Quran, even known to love the Koran and the title of «lover of the Koran.