Googoosh is the most familiar name for Iranians. Just search for her name or photos on the net, and you will see for yourself. Fa-egheh Atashin, nicknamed Googoosh, was born in 1950 in Sarcheshme Street in Tehran, Iran. Her parents separated when she was an infant, and she had to live with her father, Saber, who was an entertainer and a comedian. It was Saber who encouraged Googoosh to sing in bars and cafés in Laleh-Zar Street in Tehran when she was only 3 years old. The story goes this way: One night Saber, who was supposed to start his program, complained of heartburn and was rushed to the hospital. The owner of the Crystal Cafe, who had seen little Googoosh singing, woke her up and asked her to sing for the audience. They brought a chair and made her stand on it to reach the mike, and she started singing popular songs of Delkash and Pouran. The chemistry she left on the ordinary Googoosh child star on people was magical in a way that the owner of the café retired her father and hired her for 500 Rials a night. Interestingly enough, her father's wage was only 200 Rials, and the three-year-old Googoosh became the actual bread-winner of the family. Although in her private life she experienced hardship and bitterness, growing up with a mean step-mother, her fame grew day by day, and people from all over the country came to Crystal Café to see this new artistic phenomenon. Her singing at such an early age prevented her from getting on with her education, and she left the school after completing primary school. In 1957, when she was only 7 years old, Googoosh started her acting career in the movie Hope and Fear (1960), and the following year, had a successful role in the movie The Runaway Angel (1961), both directed by George Obadiah. She Acted in more than 40 movies and got a Sepas prize for her wonderful appearance in the 1970 avant-garde movie Bita (1972). Googoosh was discovered by Iranian composers for her natural singing talent, where she created a unique style in modern Iranian music Googoosh at 19 and became a pop-culture icon among Iranian youth. She recorded more than 200 songs in Farsi, which were embraced by various generations. She also made numerous trips to Europe and recorded songs in Italian, Spanish, English and French with Barclay Records and RCA Italiana. Her French numbers and Italian Album reached the top of the charts in 1970 and brought her international fame. She received the first prize at the Midem festival in Cannes and took part in San Remo Festival in 1973. She was also embraced in her trips to Arab and North African countries Googoosh in a movie and got the honorary medal of arts from Tunisia. In 1970s, the notorious "mini-joupe" dress was a fashion among young Iranian girls who imitated Googoosh. Her famous short haircut in 1975 is still popular among females in Iran. With the Islamic commotion of 1979, Googoosh stopped her 25-years of singing and acting career for good. She also refused to leave Iran, and Googoosh on the stage consistently rejected lucrative offers for recording new albums outside the country. Googoosh left Iran right after the revolution and stayed in New York for a little while. This stay, however, was so short that many Iranians don't remember it. Despite her reclusion and silence, her fame and popularity grew by the hour in the central Asian republics, especially in Tajikestan. On July 2000, Googoosh finally broke 21 years of silence by announcing an unexpected, but much anticipated, North American tour, starting in Toronto and later on in 26 more destinations including Los Angeles; Oakland; New York; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Atlantic City; Las Vegas; Chicago; and San Jose, as well as European cities and the Middle East. On her comeback tour, she released an album called Zoroaster, which is said to be one of her best works ever, some of its melodies were composed by herself for the first time. More than 300,000 Iranian ex-patriots welcomed her on her return tour and filled sport arenas all over the world in her honor. She now travels between her two houses in LA and Toronto and is said to be recording new songs. Her latest album, Akharin Khabar (Last News), made sky-rocket sales all over the world and broke records of all Persian albums ever. Rumors has it that Googoosh is recording new songs in English and Spanish and, of course, Farsi. She has recorded many new songs and acted in many music videos; in one of them, she played 'Charles Chaplin', which shows her spectacular acting capabilities.
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