Omar Sharif[a] (bornMichel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub;[1][b] 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as his country's greatest male film star.[6][7][8] He began his career in Egypt in the early 1950s. He is best known for his appearances in American, British, French, and Italian productions, and has been described as "the first Egyptian and Arab to conquerHollywood".[9][10] His career encompassed over 100 films spanning 50 years, and brought him many accolades including threeGolden Globe Awards and aCésar Award for Best Actor.
Sharif spoke five languages:[11][12] Arabic, English, French, Italian and Spanish.[13] He bridled at travel restrictions imposed by the government of Egyptian presidentGamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s. He was a lifelonghorse racing enthusiast, and at one time ranked among the world's topcontract bridge players. He was the recipient of high civil honors from multiple countries, including the EgyptianOrder of Merit and the FrenchLegion of Honour. He was one of only 25 grantees ofUNESCO's Sergei Eisenstein Medal, in recognition of his significant contributions toworld film and cultural diversity.[14]
His father, Yusef Chalhoub, a precious woods merchant, moved to the port city of Alexandria with his mother in the early 20th century fromZahlé.[23][24] Sharif was later born in Alexandria.[24] His family moved toCairo when he was four.[25] His mother, Claire Saada, was a noted society hostess, in whose house Egypt'sKing Farouk was a regular visitor prior to his deposition in 1952.[26]
In his youth, Sharif studied atVictoria College, Alexandria, where he showed a talent for languages, He befriended fellow actorAhmed Ramzy andYoussef Chahine in school. He later graduated fromCairo University with a degree in mathematics and physics.[27] He worked for a while in his father's precious wood business before beginning his acting career in Egypt. In 1955, he adopted the stage name "Omar Sharif".[27][28] He married fellow Egyptian actressFaten Hamama.[29]: 71 [30]
Sharif's first English-language role was that of the fictitious Sherif Ali inDavid Lean's historical epicLawrence of Arabia in 1962. Sharif was given the role whenDilip Kumar turned it down,Horst Buchholz proved unavailable andMaurice Ronet could not use the contact lenses necessary to mask his eye colour.[33]
Casting Sharif in what is now considered one of the "most demanding supporting roles in Hollywood history" was both complex and risky as he was virtually unknown at the time outside Egypt. However, as historian Steven Charles Caton notes, Lean insisted on using ethnic actors when possible to make the film authentic.[34]: 56 Sharif would later use his ambiguous ethnicity in other films: "I spoke French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and even Arabic", he said.[35] As Sharif noted, his accent enabled him to "play the role of a foreigner without anyone knowing exactly where I came from", which he stated proved highly successful throughout his career.[34]: 56 To secure the role, Sharif had to sign a seven-film contract with Columbia at $50,000 a film.[36]
Sharif went on to star in another Hollywood film,Anthony Mann'sThe Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) where he played the support role ofSohaemus of Armenia. Sharif was third-billed in Columbia'sBehold a Pale Horse (1964), playing a priest in theSpanish Civil War alongsideGregory Peck andAnthony Quinn. DirectorFred Zinnemann said he chose Sharif partly on the suggestion of David Lean. "He said he was an absolutely marvellous actor, 'If you possibly can, take a look at him.'"[39] Film historianRichard Schickel wrote that Sharif gave a "truly wonderful performance", especially noteworthy because of his totally different role inLawrence of Arabia: "It is hard to believe that the priest and the sheik are played by the same man".[40] The film, likeFall of the Roman Empire, was a commercial disappointment.[41]
Sharif was one of many stars in MGM'sThe Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), playing a Yugoslav wartime patriot; the movie was a hit. He had his first lead role in a Hollywood film when he was cast in the title part ofGenghis Khan (1965). Produced byIrving Allen and directed byHenry Levin for Columbia, the $4.5 million epic was a box office disappointment. He had a supporting role in a FrenchMarco Polo biopic,Marco the Magnificent (1965), starring Buchholz and Quinn.
While makingGenghis Khan, Sharif heard that Lean was makingDoctor Zhivago (1965), an adaptation ofBoris Pasternak's1957 novel.[42] Sharif was a fan of the novel and lobbied for one of the supporting roles, but Lean decided instead to cast him in the lead as Yuri Zhivago, a poet and physician.[43]
Film historian Constantine Santas explained that Lean intended the film to be a poetic portrayal of the period, with large vistas of landscapes combined with a powerful score byMaurice Jarre. He noted that Sharif's role is "passive", his eyes reflecting "reality" which then become "the mirror of reality we ourselves see".[44]
Sharif was also praised for his portrayal ofNicky Arnstein inFunny Girl (1968) forColumbia Pictures. He portrayed the husband ofFanny Brice, played byBarbra Streisand in her first film role. His decision to work alongside Streisand angered Egypt's government because she was a vocal supporter of the State of Israel,[48] and the country condemned the film. It was also "immediately banned" in numerous Arab nations.[49]: 48 Streisand herself jokingly responded, "You think Cairo was upset? You should've seen the letter I got from my Aunt Rose!"[50] Sharif and Streisand became romantically involved during the filming.[49]: 18 He admitted later that he did not find Streisand attractive at first, but her appeal soon overwhelmed him: "About a week from the moment I met her," he recalled, "I was madly in love with her. I thought she was the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen in my life...I found her physically beautiful, and I startedlusting after this woman."[49]: 48 [51]
At20th Century Fox he playedChe Guevara inChe! which flopped at the box office.The Appointment (1969) teamed Sharif withAnouk Aimée and directorSidney Lumet, had strong international success.[52]James Clavell'sThe Last Valley (1971) was a huge flop, despite co-starringMichael Caine.[53]The Horsemen (1971), directed byJohn Frankenheimer and the last film under his Columbia contract, also performed poorly at the box office.[54] Sharif later said, "What killed my career was appearing in a succession of films you wouldn't turn down. They were by good directors, but they were bad films." He specifically referencedBehold a Pale Horse,The Appointment andThe Horsemen.[36]
"I lost money on gambling, buying horses, things like that", he later said. "So I made those movies which I knew were rubbish... I'd call my agent and tell him to accept any part, just to bail myself out."[36]
In 1996, Sharif starred in the documentaryLebanon...Imprisoned Splendour. The documentary was written and directed by Lebanese-Australian directorDaizy Gedeon, who approached Sharif for the project because she wanted someone 'remarkable' to help her tell the true story of Lebanon: a country which, at the time, was still shrouded in the fog of itsCivil War.[59] In the film, Sharif shares personal stories of his upbringing, and recites the poetry of famous Lebanese poetKhalil Gibran.
He had his first decent role in a big Hollywood film in a long time withThe 13th Warrior (1999). The outcome of the film's production disappointed Sharif so much that he temporarily retired from film acting, not taking a role in another major film until 2003'sMonsieur Ibrahim:
I said to myself, 'Let us stop this nonsense, these meal tickets that we do because it pays well.' I thought, 'Unless I find a stupendous film that I love and that makes me want to leave home to do, I will stop.' Bad pictures are very humiliating, I was really sick. It is terrifying to have to do the dialogue from bad scripts, to face a director who does not know what he is doing, in a film so bad that it is not even worth exploring."[60]
It has nice big chunks of dialogue, which is what I like to do, rather than riding horses or camels. I'd turned down everything and stopped working for four years. I said, 'I'm going to stop doing that rubbish and keep some dignity.' But when I read the script for 'Monsieur Ibrahim,' I phoned the producers immediately. I said, 'Hang on, I'm coming, wait for me.' My problem is finding parts. When you're young and successful, they write or adapt parts for you. But when you're an old chap, let's be frank, you don't sell tickets anymore. If they need an old Englishman, American or Italian, there are plenty of actors around. So what's open for me? Old Arabs. And that's what I play in this film.[36]
Sharif said bridge was his personal passion and at one time was ranked among the world's top 50contract bridge players.At the 1964World Bridge Olympiad he represented the United Arab Republic bridge squad and in 1968 he was playing captain of the Egyptian team in the Olympiad.[65]
Sharif playing contract bridge in the Netherlands, 1967
In 1967 he formed theOmar Sharif Bridge Circus to showcase bridge to the world and invited professional players including members of the ItalianBlue team, which won 16 World championship titles, to tour and promote the game via exhibition matches including one watched by theShah of Iran.[66] Touring through Europe, the Circus attracted thousands of spectators who watched the matches viaBridge-O-Rama, a new technology (and predecessor to the modern-dayVuGraph) that displayed bidding and cardplay on television monitors. Players includedBenito Garozzo (considered by many as the greatest bridge player of all time), plus his Italian compatriotsPietro Forquet andGiorgio Belladonna and Frenchman Claude Delmouly.
In 1970, Sharif and the Circus went to London's famousPiccadilly Hotel for an 80-rubber match against British experts Jeremy Flint and Jonathan Cansino. The stakes were £1 per point, huge stakes even by today's standards. The event was to present bridge as a rich, exciting spectacle and to break through into television to bring the game within the reach of millions. The Circus ultimately won the match by 5,470 points, but Sharif still incurred a net loss after paying all related expenses.
The Circus, under the management ofMike Ledeen, toured Canada and the U.S. in 1970–71. Sharif's team joined with theDallas Aces for a seven-city tour of Chicago, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Dallas, Detroit and Philadelphia. In each city, a team of local experts participated in the exhibition.
Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif playing bridge on the set ofMacKenna's Gold, 1969.
In 1975, sponsored by theLancia division ofFiat, Sharif and members of the Italian Blue Team faced off in four challenge matches against American teams. Sharif's team won in Chicago, but was defeated in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
The Omar Sharif World Individual Championship held in 1990 offered the largest total purse ($200,000) in the history of bridge.[67][68]
In 1997, he was a member of the Committee of Honour for theBermuda Bowl on the first time it was held in an Arab country, Tunisia. He competed in a transnational team (with French, German and Lebanese players) and finished 11th. In 1999 he played in a French senior team at the European Championships in Malta, finishing second. In 2000 at Maastricht, he joined Egypt's senior team, finishing in ninth place.[69]
He was also both the author and co-author of several books on bridge and licensed his name to a bridge video game,Omar Sharif Bridge, initially released in anMS-DOS version andAmiga version in 1992 and is still sold in Windows and mobile platform versions.[71] He was also the hand analyst commentator for the Epson worldwide bridge contests.
By 2000, Sharif had stopped playing bridge entirely. Having once proudly declared the game his passion, he now considered it an addiction: "I didn't want to be a slave to any passion anymore. I gave up card playing altogether, even bridge and gambling." However, Sharif continued to license his name to bridge software games, and co-authored a book with bridge writer David Bird,Omar Sharif Talks Bridge. Written in 2004, it includes some of his most famous deals and bridge stories.[73]
Sharif lived in Egypt from his birth until he moved to Europe in 1965.[29]: 41 He recounted that in 1932, his father "wasn't a wealthy man", but "earned quite a bit of money".[29]: 45–46 Before theEgyptian Revolution of 1952,King Farouk frequented Sharif's family home, and became a friend and card-game partner of Sharif's mother. His mother was an elegant and charming hostess who was all too delighted with the association because it gave her the privilege of "consorting only with the elite" of Egyptian society. Sharif also recounted that his father's timber business was very successful during that time in ways that Sharif describes as dishonest or immoral.[29]: 46 By contrast, after 1952, Sharif stated that wealth changed hands in Egypt underNasser's nationalisation policies[29]: 98 and his father's business "took a beating".
In 1954, Sharif starred in the filmStruggle in the Valley withFaten Hamama, who shared a kiss with him although she had previously refused to kiss on screen.[74] The two fell in love; Sharif converted to Islam, changed his name, and married her.[75] They had one son, Tarek Sharif, born in 1957 in Egypt, who appeared inDoctor Zhivago as Yuri at the age of eight. The couple separated in 1966 and their marriage ended in divorce in 1974.[76] Sharif never remarried; he stated that after his divorce he never fell in love with another woman again.[76] Before their divorce, Sharif dated actressesPat Sheehan and Dodie Marshall.[77]
The Nasser government imposed travel restrictions in the form of "exit visas", so Sharif's travel to take part in international films was sometimes impeded, something he found to be intolerable.[76] These restrictions influenced Sharif's decision to remain in Europe between his film shoots, a decision that cost him his marriage, though the couple remained friends. It was a major crossroad in Sharif's life and changed him from an established family man to a committed bachelor living in European hotels. When commenting about his fame and life in Hollywood, Sharif said, "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".[76] When Sharif's affair with Streisand was made public in the Egyptian press, his Egyptian citizenship was almost withdrawn by the Egyptian government because of Streisand being Jewish[78] and a vocal supporter ofIsrael, which was then in a state of war with Egypt.[29]: 79
Sharif became friends withPeter O'Toole during the making ofLawrence of Arabia. They appeared in several other films together and remained close friends. He was also good friends withEgyptologistZahi Hawass. Actor and friendTom Courtenay revealed in an interview for the 19 July 2008 edition of BBC Radio'sTest Match Special that Sharif supportedHull City Association Football Club and in the 1970s he would telephone their automated scoreline from his home in Paris for score updates. Sharif was given an honorary degree by theUniversity of Hull in 2010 and he used the occasion to meet Hull City football playerKen Wagstaff.[79] Sharif also had an interest in horse racing spanning more than 50 years. He was often seen at French racecourses, withDeauville-La Touques Racecourse being his favourite. Sharif's horses won a number of important races and he had his best successes with Don Bosco,[80] who won thePrix Gontaut-Biron,Prix Perth andPrix du Muguet.[81] He also wrote for a French horse racing magazine.[82]
Sharif in 2009.
In later life, Sharif lived mostly in Cairo.[2] In addition to his son Tarek Sharif, he had two grandsons,Omar Sharif, Jr., (born 1983 inMontreal) and Karim.[76] Omar Sharif Jr. is also an actor.[83]
In a 2004 interview withABC Australia, when asked about his beliefs, Sharif said "I believe in everything and nothing, I don't disbelieve in anything, everything is possible, as far as my brain tells me, I don't believe, because I believe that God is Justice. The first thing I learned in Catholicism is that God is Justice, and I can't see justice in the world".[85] He also emphasized the power of belief after seeing his mother on her deathbed callingMary andChrist, and how after wondering who he would call upon on his deathbed, he decided that he would call upon his mother.
In a later interview withDaily News Egypt in 2010, commenting on religious issues, he said, "Because when one sees what happens in the world between the religions, the different religions killing each other and murdering each other, it's disgusting as far as I'm concerned, it's ridiculous. And so I thought I might be useful. I believe in God and I believe in religion, but religion should belong to you. The extraordinary thing is that the Jews believe that only the Jews can go to paradise, the Christians believe only the Christians can go to paradise and the Muslims believe only the Muslims can go to paradise. Now why should God in his great Justice make somebody born that cannot go to paradise? Why? It's absurd."[86]
Following his death, Sharif received an Islamic funeral as he was registered as a Muslim in Egypt. The funeral was attended by his son Tarek, and he was buried in the historic Sayeda Nafisa cemetery.[87]
Sharif was very supportive of the2011 Egyptian revolution in his home country and called for the resignation ofHosni Mubarak, stating: "Given that the entire Egyptian people don't want him and he's been in power for 30 years, that's enough."[88]
Sharif had a triple heart bypass operation in 1992 and suffered a mild heart attack in 1994. Until his bypass, Sharif smoked 100 cigarettes a day. He quit smoking after the surgery.
In May 2015, it was reported that Sharif was suffering fromAlzheimer's disease.[33] His son Tarek Sharif (who portrayed his father's character as a child in Doctor Zhivago) said that his father was becoming confused when remembering some of the biggest films of his career; he would mix up the names of his best-known films,Doctor Zhivago andLawrence of Arabia, often forgetting where they were filmed.
Sharif in April 2015, three months prior to his death
On 10 July 2015, less than six months after his former wife's death at the same age, Sharif died after suffering aheart attack at a hospital in Cairo.[89]
On 12 July 2015, Sharif's funeral was held at the Grand Mosque of Mushir Tantawi in eastern Cairo. The funeral was attended by a group of Sharif's relatives, friends and Egyptian actors, his coffin was draped in the Egyptian flag and a black shroud. His coffin was later taken to the El-Sayeda Nafisa cemetery in southern Cairo, where he was buried.[90]
At the35th Academy Awards, Sharif was nominated forBest Supporting Actor for his role as Sherif Ali inLawrence of Arabia but lost toEd Begley. He won two Golden Globe awards in the same year for his role. In 1966, he won a thirdGolden Globe award for the titular role in the filmDoctor Zhivago. In November 2005, Sharif was awarded the inaugural[14] Sergei Eisenstein Medal by theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in recognition of his significant contributions to world film and cultural diversity. The medal, which is awarded very infrequently, is named after Russian directorSergei Eisenstein. Only 25 have been struck, as determined by the agreement between UNESCO, Russia'sMosfilm and the Vivat Foundation.[91] In 2006, Sharif was appointed the honorary president of theCairo International Film Festival.[92]
Bridge Deluxe II: Play with Omar Sharif (instruction manual, 1966) — Contract bridge[101]
The Eternal Male (1977; originally published in French asL’Éternel masculin, Paris: Stock, 1976; with Marie-Thérèse Guinchard; translated by Martin Sokolinsky) — Autobiography
Omar Sharif’s Life in Bridge (with Anne Segalen and Patrick Sussel; London: Faber, 1983; originally published in French asMa vie au bridge, Paris: Fayard, 1982; translated and adapted byTerence Reese) — Contract bridge
_(25).jpg)
_(97)_Cropped.jpg)
