Her earliest roles were minor, but her activity and gradual success helped to establish her as a distinguished Egyptian actress.

[2] After a seven-year hiatus from acting, Hamama returned in 2000 in what was a much anticipated television series, Wageh El Amar (وجه القمر, Face of the Moon).

[5]When she won a children's beauty pageant in Egypt, her father sent her picture to the director Mohamed Karim who was looking for a young female child to play the role of a small girl with the famous Egyptian actor and musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab in the film Youm Sai'd (يوم سعيد, A Happy Day, 1939).

[9] Youssef Wahbi, an Egyptian actor and director, recognised the young actress's talent so he offered her a lead role in the 1946 film Malak al-Rahma (ملاك الرحمه , Angel of Mercy).

In 1949, Hamama had roles in three films with Wahbi: Korsi el-e'traf (كرسى الاعتراف, Chair of Confession), Al-Yateematain (اليتيمتين, The Two Orphans) and Sitt al-Bayt (ست البيت, Lady of the House).

[10] In 1950, she starred alongside Mahmoud Zulfikar in the fantasy film; Akhlaq lil baye (أخلاق للبيع, Virtue for Sale, 1950).

Hamama is also known for having played the lead role in the first Egyptian mystery film Al-Manzel Raqam 13 (المنزل رقم 13, House Number 13).

In 1959, she starred in the Ezz El-Dine Zulficar's romantic classic, Bain Al Atlal (بين الأطلال, Among the Ruins) with her favorite 1950s co-star Emad Hamdy and Egypt's new rising leading man Salah Zulfikar.

In 1963, she received an award for her role in the political film La Waqt Lel Hob (لا وقت للحب, No Time for Love).

They started a production company which produced the film Maw`ed Ma` al-Hayat (موعد مع الحياه , Date with Life) in which she starred.

[10] Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama were the romantic leads of Ayyamna al-Holwa (أيامنا الحلوه , Our Sweet Days), Ard al-Salam (أرض السلام, Land of Peace), La Anam (لا أنام, Sleepless) and Sayyidat al-Qasr (سيدة القصر, The Lady of the Palace).

Their last film together before their divorce was Ezz El-Dine Zulficar's Nahr al-Hob (نهر الحب, The River of Love) in 1960.

[14]While she was away, then President Gamal Abdel Nasser asked famous writers, journalists and friends to try to convince her to return to Egypt.

[16] After the film, the Egyptian government abrogated a law that forbade wives from divorcing their husbands, therefore allowing khul'.

In the 1952 Mahmoud Zulfikar's production Miss Fatmah (الأستاذه فاطمه ), Hamama starred as a law student who believed women were as important as men in society.

[24] In Imbratoriyat Meem (امبراطورية ميم, The Empire M), she played the role of a widow who takes care of her large family and suffers hardship.

[20] Her most influential film was Oridu Hallan (أريد حلا, I Want a Solution) which criticized the laws of marriage and divorce in Egypt.

In this film, Hamama played the role of Amnah, a young woman who seeks revenge from her uncle for the honour killing of her sister.

In 1960, she starred in the film Nahr Hob (نهر الحب, The River of Love) by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar [26] which was based on Leo Tolstoy's well known novel Anna Karenina and in 1961, she played the lead role in the film La Tutf'e al-Shams (لا تطفئ الشمس, Don't Turn Off the Sun) based on the novel by Ihsan Abdel Quddous.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was on a visit abroad, mourned her death and sent an envoy to her funeral, while a statement from his office described her as a person of "high creative value."

[29] The country's dailies gave her prominence in their front pages, with newspaper Al-Akhbar displaying "Farewell to the Lady of the Arabic Screen" as a headline.

[30] Attendees included Minister of Culture Gaber Asfour, former presidential candidate Amr Moussa, as well as several actors and actresses, but not Omar Sharif (who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, dying at the same age less than six months later).

[31] While filming Abu Zayd el-Hilali (أبو زيد الهلالى) in 1947, she and director Ezz El-Dine Zulficar fell in love and wed.

[35] Throughout Hamama's career, she received numerous accolades for best actress, and was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival’s Prix International for her role in 1951's Your Day Will Come.