Omar Sharif

Biography

Omar Sharif (born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor often seen as his country's top male film star. Born in Alexandria to a Lebanese Catholic family, he studied at Victoria College and later Cairo University before starting his cinema career. He began acting in Egyptian films in the early 1950s and quickly made a name for himself in Arab cinema.

Sharif gained international fame through his work with director David Lean, first appearing as Sherif Ali alongside Peter O'Toole in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962). This role earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Egyptian and Arab actor to succeed in Hollywood. He continued working with Lean in Doctor Zhivago (1965), playing the title character and winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Sharif kept his status as an international star with roles in major Hollywood films like Funny Girl (1968) with Barbra Streisand, as well as historical epics like Genghis Khan (1965) and Che! (1969). His ability to speak Arabic, English, French, Italian, and Spanish allowed him to work in different film industries and cultures. He was married to famous Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, but they later divorced.

Aside from acting, Sharif was a skilled contract bridge player, ranked among the world's best, and had a lifelong love for horse racing. Later in his career, he gave noted performances in European cinema, especially his role as a Turkish immigrant in the French film Monsieur Ibrahim (2003), which won him the César Award for Best Actor. He received many international honors during his career, including the Egyptian Order of Merit, the French Legion of Honour, and UNESCO's Sergei Eisenstein Medal. Sharif continued acting until just before he passed away at Behman Hospital in 2015, completing over 100 films during his five-decade career.