عمر الشريف ميشيل يوسف ديمتري شلهوب
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Awards
Omar Sharif played Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia 1962, earning an Oscar nomination and launching his international career. He won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for Doctor Zhivago 1965. A champion bridge player, he authored books and a syndicated column. Later in life, he won a César Award for Monsieur Ibrahim 2003. He died of a heart attack in 2015 at age 83.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Omar Sharif — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Omar Sharif by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Omar Sharif — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
On April 10, 1932, Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and his wife Claire Saada welcomed a son, Michel Demitri Shalhoub — later known as Omar Sharif — in Alexandria, Egypt. He grew up Catholic, of Lebanese and Syrian extraction. He studied mathematics and physics at Victoria College in Alexandria, then earned a degree in the same subjects from Cairo University. After college, he entered the family lumber business and was discovered for film.
Sharif made his film debut in the Egyptian film The Blazing Sun 1954 opposite Faten Hamama, whom he married the following year. He converted to Islam to marry her and took the name Omar al-Sharif. He made his English-language debut in Lawrence of Arabia 1962, playing Sherif Ali, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and international fame. He followed with the title role in Doctor Zhivago 1965, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. He also starred in Funny Girl 1968 opposite Barbra Streisand. After a lull, he made a comeback in the French film Monsieur Ibrahim 2003, winning the Best Actor César Award.
Sharif married Egyptian actress Faten Hamama in 1955, converting to Islam and changing his name. They had one son, Tarek Sharif, who appeared as the young Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago. The couple divorced in 1974, and Sharif never remarried. He was a world-class contract bridge player, authoring books and a syndicated column, and also enjoyed horse racing and gambling. In 2006, he said he quit bridge to focus on family. In 2012, he received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Omar Sharif remains an icon of world cinema, bridging East and West. He was one of the few Arab actors to achieve global stardom, and his performances in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago are considered classics. He also left a mark on bridge, with his name attached to a computer game. In 2004, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. He is most remembered for his role as the charismatic Sherif Ali and the tragic Yuri Zhivago.
The complete filmography of Omar Sharif — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Omar Sharif — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Omar Sharif — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Definitely Want to Do More Theatre Now. Or, Two Weeks in a Film for a Remarkable Amount of Money.
I’d Rather Be Playing Bridge Than Making a Bad Movie.
It Made Me the Hero of the Whole of France. to Head Butt a Cop Is the Dream of Every Frenchman.
Aggressive Feminists Scare Me.
I Lived in America for a Long Time. Only Ten per Cent of All Americans Have a Passport. in Other Words, Ninety per Cent Never Left America. They Don’t Know Anything. the Typical Middle Eastern Man Is Far More Intelligent.
I Stopped Making Movies Because for the Last Twenty Five Years I’ve Been Making a Lot of Rubbish Because I Was in Debt All the Time. You Know I Used to Gamble Quite a Bit and Then I Was Always Broke. I Was Always One Film Behind My Debts and so at Some Point You Know I Had to Work All the Time to Support My Family and Myself and All My Expensive Tastes and Then I Decided That It Became Ridiculous at Some Point. It Got to the Stage Where My Own Grandchildren Use to Make Fun of My Films, Which Is Very Serious. They Used to Say, the Previous One Was Terrible Grandfather but This One Is Even Worse so I Decided It Was Time to Stop and Keep Some Dignity, Especially Vis a Vis My Grandchildren and so I Decided to Wait for Something Decent to Come Something That I’d Like, That I Would Feel Enthusiastic About.
I Was a Lonely Man Living Out of Suitcases in Hotels and When You Arrive in a New Place and You Don’t Know Anyone, the Only Place Where You Can Go If You’re a Well Known Person to Have Dinner Alone Is a Casino. You Go to the Casino, Have Dinner by Yourself, No One Criticizes You and Then You Play a Little Bit to Give Yourself Some Emotion to Fight the Boredom of Being by Yourself, Get Some Excitement. That’s All.
When One Sees What Happens in the World Between the Religions, the Different Religions Killing Each Other and Murdering Each Other, It’s Disgusting and as Far as I Am Concerned It’s Ridiculous. so I Thought I Might Be Useful, I Believe in God and I Believe in Religion, but Believe Religions Should Belong to You. the Extraordinary Thing Is That the Jews Believe That Only the Jews Can Go to Paradise, the Christians Believe That Only a Christian Can Go to Paradise and the Muslims Believe That Only the Muslims Can Go to Paradise. Now Why Should God, in His Great Justice, Make Somebody Born That Cannot Go to Paradise It Is Absurd. Please Forgive Me I Don’t Mean to Say It’s Absurd, People Made It Absurd.
Every Moment Is Like That for Me Now and That Is How It Should Be. to Live Well at My Age You Always Have to Think About Concentrating Your Attention on the Moment That Is Now and the Moment You Are Living Because You Don’t Know How Much Longer You May Live.
Since 1966, I Have Never Lived with a Woman, I Have Only Lived in Hotels and Eaten in Restaurants. Mine Was a Very Happy Life, I Am Not Complaining.
I Lived Very Humbly, in Fear, I Accepted the Films They Wanted Me to Do and Even Films I Didn’t Want to Do and I Didn’t Like Because I Was Afraid of Saying No.
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.
It Gave Me Glory, but It Gave Me Loneliness Also. and a Lot of Missing My Own Land, My Own People and My Own Country.
Luckily, Not Everything I Did Was Rubbish for Money. I Have Had Some Great Moments.
Little-known facts about Omar Sharif — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
In an Egyptian television interview, Sharif revealed that his former wife Faten Hamama was his only true love. He was the father of Tarek Sharif and grandfather of Omar Sharif Jr.
The night before the premiere of Lawrence of Arabia 1962, Peter O’Toole took him to see Lenny Bruce. After the show, they went backstage, then to Bruce’s apartment where police arrested them during a drug injection; producer Sam Spiegel secured their release.
A world-class bridge player, he anticipated or postponed shootings to attend major bridge events. He authored books and a weekly syndicated column on bridge and licensed his name to a computer game.
He underwent triple bypass surgery in 1992 and suffered a mild heart attack in 1994. Until the bypass, he smoked 100 cigarettes a day; he quit easily after the operation.
During the 1956 Suez crisis, he served in Egypt’s militia but considered using his rifle absurd. He later compared memories with British chat show host Michael Parkinson, who served on the opposite side.
Of Lebanese and Syrian descent, he resided in Egypt most of his life. Fluent in Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian and Spanish, he graduated from Cairo University in 1963. He wanted to study at RADA but was offered the lead in The Blazing Sun 1954 instead.
He appeared in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: Lawrence of Arabia 1962, Doctor Zhivago 1965 and Funny Girl 1968; the first won.
Peter O’Toole nicknamed him Freddy on the set of Lawrence of Arabia because no one could possibly be called Omar Sharif.
In 2005, a US court in Beverly Hills ordered him to take an anger management course for punching a parking attendant who refused his European currency. He was not present for the hearing in 2007.
He signed a seven-picture deal with Sam Spiegel at $15,000 per film for Lawrence of Arabia 1962, Doctor Zhivago 1965, Behold a Pale Horse 1964, The Night of the Generals 1967, Genghis Khan 1965, Mackenna’s Gold 1969 and Funny Girl 1968.
As of 2009, he is one of six performers who won a Golden Globe as Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture Drama without an Oscar nomination for that role for Doctor Zhivago.
His mother was a professional gambler, ranked with King Faroukh as one of the most daring players. He inherited his love of gambling from her.
He received a one-month suspended prison sentence for striking a police officer in a suburban-Paris casino in 2003, after an argument with a roulette croupier.
His Egyptian citizenship was almost withdrawn by the Nasser regime because of his public affair with Jewish actress Barbra Streisand during the Six Day War.
He made his home in a large apartment built for him on the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
He considered Che! 1969 one of his worst movies, according to an interview in his native Egypt between 2007 and 2009.
He appeared with Anthony Quayle in four films: Lawrence of Arabia 1962, The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964, Mackenna’s Gold 1969 and The Tamarind Seed 1974.
He was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1990.
Bollywood star Dilip Kumar was initially offered the role of Sherif Ali; after he declined, David Lean offered it to Sharif. Sharif was originally supposed to play the role of Tafas.
One of his main passions was horse racing; he bred horses for the sport.
His autobiography L’Éternel Masculin was published in France in 1976 and in America in 1977 as The Eternal Male.
He appeared with James Mason in four films: The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964, Genghis Khan 1965, Mayerling 1968 and Bloodline 1979.
He was a champion bridge player.
He appeared in two films selected for the National Film Registry: Lawrence of Arabia 1962 and Funny Girl 1968.
In 1969, he was named to star in a musical biography of Rudolph Valentino, but the project did not materialize.
He jointly owned a French casino.
He used to own 14 race horses.
He was born the same day as Delphine Seyrig.
He was of Syrian origin.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Omar Sharif.
Celebrities similar to Omar Sharif — same craft, ranked by reach.
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