RIP Omar Sharif

Played his last hand

He seemed a very nice man fron the interviews I have seen over the years.

RIP

Actor Omar Sharif, best known for his roles in classic films Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, has died aged 83.

Egypt-born Sharif won two Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination for his role as Sherif Ali in David Lean's 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia.

He won a further Golden Globe three years later for Doctor Zhivago.

Earlier this year, his agent confirmed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

His agent Steve Kenis said: "He suffered a heart attack this afternoon in a hospital in Cairo."




Sharif started his career in Egyptian cinema in the 1950s
Born Michel Shalhoub in Alexandria in April 1932, Sharif started out in his family's lumber business before going to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

He made his screen debut in the 1954 Eygptian film Devil of the Sahara and rapidly became a star in his own country.
He also appeared in Funny Girl and played Che Guevara and Genghis Khan on screen
But his big break came when David Lean cast him in Lawrence of Arabia, introducing the actor with a now-legendary shot of him riding a camel out of a shimmering heat haze towards the camera.

Peter O'Toole, who played TE Lawrence in the 1962 multiple Oscar-winner, considered Sharif's name ridiculous and insisted on calling him "Fred". The pair soon became fast friends.

In later life Sharif claimed to be baffled by the film's success, saying it had merely been shots of people on camels walking from one side of the screen to the other.

He won a Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2003
David Lean went on to cast Sharif in the title role of his next epic Doctor Zhivago, in which he played a physician caught up in the Russian Revolution.




The actor went through a daily routine of hair-straightening and skin-waxing in order to disguise his Egyptian looks and would later admit the film lad left him close to a nervous breakdown.

Other films on Sharif’s roster during this era included The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), Behold a Pale Horse (1964), Genghis Khan (1965) and Mayerling (1968). He joined singer/actress Barbra Streisand in the acclaimed 1968 musical Funny Girl, in which she played singer Fanny Brice and he portrayed husband Nicky Arnstein.

Sharif’s later work included The Tamarind Seed (1974), Funny Lady (a 1975 sequel to Funny Girl), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), Top Secret! (1984) and Heaven Before I Die (1997). Taking on TV projects as well, he also appeared in productions like The Far Pavilion (1984) and Gulliver's Travels (1996).




In the new millennium, Sharif continued his big-screen performances as seen with Monsieur Ibrahim (2003), where he portrayed a Muslim shopkeeper who befriends a Jewish youth in 1960s Paris. Sharif also starred in Hidalgo, another sand-based feature starring Viggo Mortensen, and One Night With the King (2005).

Bio and Bridge

Omar Sharif was born in Alexandria, Egypt on April 10, 1932. Part of an Egyptian-Lebanese clan, he was able to attend English school, eventually learning several languages and developing a love for theater. He studied math and physics at Victory College in Cairo and worked in his father’s business for a time before focusing on his passion, making his Egyptian film debut in 1953 and becoming a top male star. He wed fellow thespian Faten Hamama in 1955, with the couple going on to have a son.



As reported by Sharif in an interview, he and Hamama amicably divorced in 1974 due to his prolonged time away from Egypt. He has published an autobiography, The Eternal Male (1977), and been renowned as a bridge player, with the book Omar Sharif Talks Bridge (2004). In 2003, he received the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award for his achievement in film.

lol good old George Whitebread.

I'm actually just off to Canterbury to see a 20/20 match with a very good mate who's from Leeds. He's good at playing that character when he's had a few.

Whereabouts in Leeds? Harehills or somewhere posh I would imagine.

I played bridge with him often - cursed him for his equanimity.

Nice write up he got Bm. Did you holiday there?

kenny he was born in Headingley but he's been down south for years.