Legendary actor, Egypt’s Omar Sharif, has died of a heart attack at the age of 83.
He came to international renown in two classics, “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Doctor Zhivago.”
According to the actor’s agent, Steve Kenis, Sharif died in a Cairo hospital. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Sharif was one of the few Arab actors to make it big in Hollywood. He won international fame and an Oscar-nomination for best supporting actor for his role in the 1962 film, “Lawrence of Arabia,” in which he co-starred with Peter O’Toole, said an Al Jazeera report chronicling his career.
Born as Michel Shalhoub on April 10, 1932, to a wealthy family in Alexandria, Egypt, Sharif grew interested in acting while studying mathematics and physics at university in Cairo.
He worked in his father’s timber business for several years before getting a role in an Egyptian movie, “The Blazing Sun,” in 1954 opposite the Middle East’s biggest female star, Faten Hamama.
Raised as a Roman Catholic, Sharif converted to Islam and married Hamama in 1955, taking on his new name. They had a son, Tarek, who played Yuri in “Doctor Zhivago” at age 8, but the couple divorced in 1974.
Despite Sharif’s image as an eligible bachelor, he did not remarry, saying he never fell in love with another woman.
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