Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif lived in Egypt till 1965 and then moved to Europe. Though his father did not have prosperous business in the beginning, gradually it flourished. King Farouk often visited his house and befriended Sharif’s mother as card-game partner. After 1952, as wealth changed hands in Egypt under Nasser’s policies, his father’s business too had a decline.

In 1954, Omar Sharif met actress, Faten Hamma, during the shooting of the movie ‘Struggle in the Valley’. Both fell in love and married in 1955 after Sharif converted to Muslim. The couple had a son, Tarek Sharif, born in 1957.

Omar and Faten legally divorced in 1974 after living separately for eight years. The main reason for their separation is cited to be his prolonged time away from Egypt due to the Nasser government-imposed travel restrictions.

Originally named Michel Dimitri, Omar Sharif was born on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt to Joseph Chalhoub and Claire Saada. His father was a precious wood merchant while his mother was a noted society hostess.

He belonged to the Syria-Lebanese 'Antiochian' Greek Catholics of Egypt and was of Melkite Catholic descent.

He started showing his talent for languages right from his college days while studying at Victoria College, Cairo. Later, he secured a graduation degree in mathematics and physics from Cairo University.

After graduating, he joined his father’s business but soon moved out to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Omar Sharif started his acting career with ‘Shaytan Al-Sahra’ (also called ‘Devil of the Desert’) in 1954. In the same year, he appeared in the role of Ahmed in another movie, ‘Sira` Fi al-Wadi’ (also called ‘Struggle in the Valley’).

From 1955 to 1957, he appeared in movies like ‘Ayyamna al-Holwa’, ‘La Châtelaine du Liban’, ‘Sira` Fi al-Mina’, and ‘Ard al-Salam’.

His popularity gradually rose to stardom, and he appeared in the Egyptian production ‘La Anam’ (‘Sleepless’) in 1958. In the same year, he appeared in the French production, ‘Goha’ and two other movies, ‘Shatie el asrar’ (‘Beach of Secrets’) and ‘Ghaltet habibi’ (‘My Lover’s Fault’).

In 1959, he performed in quite a good number of movies like ‘Siraa fil Nil’ (‘Struggle on the Nile’), ‘Sayyidat al-Qasr’ (‘Lady of the Palace’), ‘Min ajal emraa’ (‘For a Woman’), ‘Maweed maa maghoul’ (‘An Appointment with the Unknown’), and ‘Fadiha fil Zamalek’ (‘Scandal in Zamalek’).

After working in some Arab-speaking movies for the next two years, Omar Sharif got his first chance in the English historical epic ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in 1962. David Lean, the director of the epic, insisted on having Sharif in the movie though he was not a known face outside Egypt. Lean insisted that ethnic actors would make the film more authentic and rightly, Sharif’s role proved to be one of the most demanding supporting roles in the history of Hollywood.

The most notable role in the career of Omar Sharif was that of Serif Ali in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. Directed by David Lean, the movie was a turning point in Sharif’s career and brought him numerous awards and huge recognition.

His performance in the movie ‘Doctor Zhivago’ won him critical and commercial success.

His performance in the movie ‘Monsieur Ibrahim’ in which he played the role of an elderly Turkish shopkeeper was also highly appreciated.