Siti Zainab

Acting · 1937–2014 · Sabak Bernam, Selangor, British Malaya

Siti Zainab binti Kimpal (31 December 1935 – 21 August 2014) was a Malaysian-born Indonesian actress, singer, and dancer. She was born in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, as the eldest daughter and child of the three children of Siti Khadijah and Kimpal. She had a younger sister, Hindun binti Kimpal, a housewife, and a younger brother, Kamaruddin bin Kimpal, a farmer. She completed her education at junior school and religious school, and started to taking a course at cooking school in West Sumatera. She later graduated from Sekolah Kepandaian Putri (SKP).

Full biography

Zainab started her career by joined Dardanella troupe as an actress, she also joined Bintang Berlian troupe in Palembang, South Sumatra, in 1947 as an actress and dancer. She later joined Sri Budaya troupe in Lubuklinggau and moved to Jambi during Operation Product and joined Dian troupe. She later moved to Singapore and signed a contract with Shaw Brothers Studio, and later made her film debut in Nasib (1949) as a singer and dancer. She later starred in Nilam (1949) as a child actress which also starred P. Ramlee and Siput Sarawak.

Zainab appeared in numerous Singapore production films as a singer and dancer along with several actress such as: Kasma Booty, Siput Sarawak, and etc. She appeared in four more films such as: Rachun Dunia (1950), Bakti (1950), Takdir Ilahi (1950), and Dewi Murni (1950). She returned to Palembang in 1950 along with her parents and later joined Ratu Asia troupe as a dancer and singer before later moved to Jakarta. She released two songs titled "Sayang di Sayang" and "Hari Raya", and later received a positive response from music fans in Jakarta. Zainab then made her Indonesian film debut by starring in Taufan (1952). Apart from dancing, she started to work as a cooking teacher in the early 1950s. Zainab was an active dancer who was known for her role in drama film, such as Timuriana (1953) and Belenggu Masjarakat (1953). She made her last appearance in Asrama Dara (1958) as a dancer and later retired to became a housewife.

Zainab was married to Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin, an ulama, in Bengkalis, Riau, in 1956. They had seven children: Zulkarnain (b. 17 August 1957), a civil servant, Nukman, a civil servant, Rinie Yuslina Fairuz, a civil servant, Gamal Abdul Nasir, a lecturer and writer, Rita Puspa, a civil servant, Nida Suryani, a Biology teacher, and Sri Purnama, an English teacher. Their marriage lasted until Zakaria's death in 2006. She died at her residence in Kelapapati, Bengkalis, on 21 August 2014 at 8.00 WIB (UTC+07:00), due to heart attack at the age of 78, and was buried at Taman Makam Islam Harapan.