Kerima (born February 10, 1925) is an actress best known for her role
in Outcast of the Islands. While portrayed as Algerian when she gained
fame as an actress, she is of French nationality.Outcast of the
Islands was set in Indonesia and her role was that of a native girl.
In casting the role, director Carol Reed sought someone "seductive,
radiant", "as the soul of the country with its mysterious forests." He
felt no available actresses were right for the part. In an interview
with Der Spiegel, he claimed to have searched for almost a year in
Egypt, Singapore, and Borneo, auditioning "dancers, fashion models,
beauty queens" before friends recommended Kerima, "daughter of a very
wealthy Arab in Algiers". Although her background was not Indonesian,
film publicity sought to portray her as an indigenous islander. In
London, she was quoted as saying "I live the life of Nature. I ride
bareback, I walk barefoot, I swim bare." As she had no acting
experience, her role was completely non-verbal. Reed never used the
voice of amateurs or children in his films. Had her voice been used, a
French accent would have been obvious. A heavily publicized kissing
scene in the movie lasted 112 seconds. This "marathon kiss" was the
subject of a Life magazine article which included the photo of Kerima
on the cover. This scene was used in advertising to entice people to
see the film. It was considered "shocking" to some critics and "met
with difficulty" by American censors.Kerima was active in film
throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, working with Italian and
American directors including Joseph Mankiewicz and Howard Hawks. Her
last known work were minor parts in 1972, the last being a bellydancer
in one episode of The Adventurer, a British TV series.To create more
publicity for Kerima and the movie Outcast, an exotic-island-girl
image consistent with her role was created by the film's executive
producer, Alexander Korda. He claimed she was born in Algeria. A
search of birth records in Algerian newspapers was conducted around
2006 without locating any documentation of her birth. Her husband Guy
Hamilton, an assistant director of Outcast, was then contacted and
asked about Kerima's background. He confirmed that she was born in
France to French parents, is a French citizen, and that Korda created
the name Kerima and the associated persona of an exotic Javanese
native to promote the movie. Another source claims her real name was
Miriam, but instead of having her study medicine, she was "selling
jewellery in the South of France". Kerima (actress) Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter