Background

Ethnicity: Coming from Zahle, Lebanon, Sharif's parents were associated with the ethno-religious group of Antiochian Greek Christians.

Omar Sharif, born Michel Dimitri Chalhoub, came to the world on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt. He was a son of Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and Claire Shalhoub (maiden name Saada), a well known society hostess.

Education

Omar Sharif studied at Victoria College in Alexandria till his family relocation to Cairo in 1936. While still in college, he revealed his inclination toward languages.

He then attended English schools in Cairo taking part in local theatrical productions to fulfill his aspiration of performing. After receiving a joint degree in mathematics and physics from Cairo University in 1953, he worked in the family's lumber business for a while.

Sharif received an honorary degree from the University of Hull in 2010.

Career

Omar Sharif made his screen debut in 1953 Egyptian movie The Blazing Sun (also known as Struggle in the Valley and The Blazing Sky) starring opposite his future wife Faten Hamama as Ahmed. Since then till the end of the decade, he performed in twenty-four Arabic-language pictures, including the French-Tunisian Goha, and reached pinnacle of success in his homeland.

The international acclaim came to the actor in 1962 after his incarnation of the loyal Arab Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia. Although a supporting role, it provided Sharif with his first Academy Award nomination. Various historical characters followed the succes, such as Sohamus, King of the Armenians in The Fall of the Roman Empire, a Spanish priest in Behold a Pale Horse, and the lead part in Genghis Khan.

A poet-doctor Yuri Zhivago that Omar Sharif played the same year opposite Julie Christie in David Lean's interpretation of Pasternak's novel entered the golden collection of his roles. The further parts in The Night of the Generals, Mayerling, and Che! were among other major of the period. In 1968, Omar Sharif supported Barbra Streisand in her debut movie Funny Girl portraying Nick Arnstein. Seven years later, he appeared as the same character in the movie's sequel, Funny Lady.

The slow decline in popularity of Sharif as an actor began at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Although he continued to be cast both in screen and TV movies, most of the roles he was given were in failure projects with few exceptions like André Ferren in Crime and Passion. The actor concentrated instead on his passion for bridge card game taking part in the major events in the area, writing books and releasing videos on the subject. In the 1970s and 1980s, Omar Sharif contributed to a syndicated column about the game in the Chicago Tribune. Sharif's autobiography, The Eternal Male: My Own Story, was issued in 1976.

In 2003, Sharif came back to the big screen performing a Turkish shopkeeper in Monsieur Ibrahim. It was met warmly both by critics and audience. The final role of the actor was in Ahmed Salim's 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham in 2015.

Achievements

• Omar Sharif is considered a big star of both the Arab and West cinematography of the 1960s and 1970s.
  
  Sharif had one Academy Award nomination to his credit for best actor in a supporting role in Lawrence of Arabia. The movie also brought him two Golden Globes, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and for Best Acting Debut. He gained the third one for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Doctor Zhivago. He was also a recipient of the Venice Film Festival Audience Award and César Award, both for Best Actor in Monsieur Ibrahim. In 2005, the actor was awarded with the Sergei Eisenstein Medal by UNESCO.
  
  A strong adherent of bridge, Sharif was listed at one time among the top contract bridge players of the world. In addition to a great number of books and TV shows on the subject issued with his direct involvement, the actor gave his name to a computer version of the game which appeared in 1992.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Omar Sharif Talks Bridge

    (For over three decades Omar has been a splendid ambassado...)

    2004
  • The Eternal Male 1977

• movie

  • The Last Valley

    (From acclaimed writer James Clavell (Shogun) comes this s...)

    1971
  • Juggernaut

    (A sentimental excursion becomes a voyage from hell when a...)

    1974
  • Beyond Justice

    (A woman's ex-husband, who is the son of an Arab chieftain...)

    1992
  • Doctor Zhivago

    (Omar Sharif stars in the title role as an orphaned youth ...)

    1965
  • The Night of The Generals

    (Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif star in this powerful thril...)

    1967
  • More than a Miracle

    (Sophia Loren and Omar Shariff are beautiful peasant and h...)

    1967
  • Green Ice

    (An electronics engineer and his gal pal travel to South A...)

    1981
  • The Yellow Rolls-Royce

    (The adventures of a Rolls-Royce roll (purchased by the Ma...)

    1964
  • Funny Girl

    (This classic musical film contrasts Fanny's onstage antic...)

    1968
  • Genghis Khan

    (Omar Sharif stars as Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior chi...)

    1965
  • Shaka Zulu: The Citadel

    (The true story of the legendary African warrior and his s...)

    2001
  • Lawrence of Arabia

    (Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, t...)

    1962
  • Behold a Pale Horse

    (Sought for 15 years by the cruel police captain, Vinolas,...)

    1964
  • Mackenna's Gold

    (Seventeen men and four women seek a legendary cache of go...)

    1969
  • Imperium: Saint Peter

    (Saint Peter, a reluctant but passionate leader, from the ...)

    2005
  • The Tamarind Seed

    (A Russian diplomat's affair sparks a thrilling case of co...)

    1974
  • The Fall of the Roman Empire

    (Action-packed look at the beginnings of the fall of the R...)

    1964
  • Heaven Before I Die

    (A disabled man ventures to Toronto to try to fit into soc...)

    1997
  • The 13th Warrior

    (A band of warriors are being attacked by ferocious creatu...)

    1999
  • Hidalgo

    (A man enters a long-distance race across the Arabian Desert.)

    2004

Religion

Brought up as a Catholic, Omar Sharif conveted to Islam in 1955 to form a family with an Egyptian actress Faten Hamama.

Views

Being opposed to travel restrictions existing under Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, Omar Sharif left Egypt and lived in Europe in between movie shoots.

Sharif's romantic relationships with an actress Barbara Streisand who was of Jewish descent as well as his support of Israel provoked some tensions between him and his native country. Sharif's pro Jewish position almost cost him his Egyptian citizenship.

Quotations: "Working gets in the way of living."

"I don't think any actor feels comfortable watching themselves in movies. You must be very narcissistic. The problem with your own opinion of yourself is that contrary to the normal spectators, when you watch a film you are in, you only watch yourself."

"People don't have to be beautiful any more. We don't have any Audrey Hepburns, Rita Hayworths or Ava Gardeners. When you look at Al Pacino and the greatest actors in Hollywood they're all common-looking."

"For some men, nothing is Written unless they Write it."

"I want to live every moment totally and intensely. Even when I'm giving an interview or talking to people, that's all that I'm thinking about."

"My philosophy is that when I go out of my room, I'm prepared to love everybody I meet, unless they're bad."

"I'm very wary about giving advice. I think it's very dangerous to give advice to people, except if you know them very well."

"I don't know what women are attracted to. I can't tell, but certainly I have no notion of having sex appeal or being seductive in any way."

"I don't know what sex appeal is. I don't think you can have sex appeal knowingly. The people who seduce me personally are the people who seem not to know they're seductive, and not to know they have sex appeal."

"I had too many big passions in life and it gets in the way of work. You can't concentrate properly on the one thing."

Membership

Omar Sharif was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Omar Sharif Bridge Circus. The latter was established by himself in 1967.

Personality

The surname Omar Sharif adopted by the actor is translated from Arabic as "noble" or "nobleman".

Sharif spoke fluent Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian and Spanish. A horse racing devotee, he adored bridge and casino gambling as well.

Sharif supported Hull City Association Football Club.

Physical Characteristics: Omar Sharif had a triple heart bypass after which he gave up smoking. He also suffered a mild heart attack in 1994.

At the end of his life, the actor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. According to his son Tarek, it caused some problems with his memory.

Interests

• bridge, casino gambling

• Sport & Clubs

  football, horse racing

Connections

Omar Sharif married an actress Faten Hamama on February 5, 1955. The family produced one son named Tarek. Sharif and Hamama divorced in 1974.

Sharif had a romantic affair with one of his co-stars Barbara Streisand.

Father:

Joseph Shalhoub

Mother:

Claire Shalhoub

Spouse:

Faten Hamama

Son:

Tarek Sharif

Tarek Sharif was born in 1957. At the age of eight, he played a character of his father in childhood, Yuri, in 1965 movie Doctor Zhivago .

Grandson:

Omar Sharif Jr.

Grandson:

Karim Sharif

colleague:

David Lean

Partner:

Barbra Streisand

Friend:

Peter O'Toole

Friend:

Tom Courtenay

Friend:

Zahi Hawass