Born Samiha Zaki El-Nial (سميحة زكي النيال) and a Lycée Français du Caire dropout, she was discovered by director Hussein Helmy El-Mohandess and made her debut in 1958.

[1] In 1961, she married El-Mohandess and he directed two films offering her starring roles opposite Egyptian Cinema's box-office mogul Salah Zulfikar in the romance, A Storm of Love (عاصفة من الحب), Me and my Daughters (أنا وبناتي), earning commercial success for both films.

Her marriage with El-Mohandess lasted for a brief period and she later married fellow actor Kamal El-Shennawi.

After divorce with El-Shennawi, Sherif moved to Lebanon and made her Lebanese film debut with 1973 action film Kuwait Connection (ذئاب لا تأكل اللحم) directed by Sami A. Khouri who reached fame with The Lady of the Black Moons.

She was paired with Salah Zulfikar for the fifth and last time in the commercial hit; Desire and Price (الرغبة والثمن).