The story of Omar Sharif, an actor who wrote the history of Arab and world cinema The Origins of Omar Sharif Omar Sharif was born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub on April 10, 1932, in Alexandria, Egypt. His family consisted of Syrian merchants who emigrated to Egypt at the turn of the century and belonged to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch.

As a youth, he studied at the Victoria College in Alexandria, where he became close friends with a young Ahmed Ramzy and Youssef Chahine, whom he would later meet again when he embarked on a career as a professional actor. He later graduated from Cairo University in physics and mathematics, initially working in his father’s company, and only devoted himself to acting in 1954.

The first successes His very first film was “Ṣira‘ Fī al-Wādī” (in English “The Blazing Sun”), directed in 1954 by his friend Chahine, who was also the first to suggest he adopt the pseudonym “Omar Sharif”, which would soon characterize his entire career. That same year he converted to Islam to marry the actress Faten Hamama, with whom he had his only son, Tarek, thus officially adopting the name Omar Sharif.

The cast of Ayamma al Holwa: Abdel Halim Hafez, Ahmed Ramzy, Faten Hamama and Omar Sharif She soon established herself as a rising star in Egyptian cinema, playing the lead role in many iconic films of the 1950s and 1960s, including “Ayyamna al-Holwa” (English:

“Our Beautiful Days”) (1955), in which she co-starred with Ahmed Ramzi, Abdel Halim Hafez and Faten Hamama, “The Lady of Lebanon” (1956), “Sira` Fi al-Mina” (1956), “La anam” (1957), “Ard al-Salam” (1957) and “Goha” (1958), where Claudia Cardinale made her debut. Lawrence of Arabia and international success Omar Sharif continued to establish himself as a great Egyptian actor in the early 1960s, but it was Lawrence of Arabia (1962) that brought him the fame and international success that cemented him as one of the greatest actors ever to grace the stage.

Initially, the role was supposed to go to actors already well-known in Hollywood, such as Dilip Kumar or Horst Buchholz, but when they turned him down, David Lean had no hesitation and took the risk of casting him in one of the most important supporting roles in cinema history, opening a new chapter in Sharif’s career. His Sharif Ali proved to be one of the most convincing characters in the entire film, allowing him to rightfully enter through the main door of Hollywood, even winning his first Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

Between 1964 and 1965 he was a central presence in many of the most important films of the time, among which it is impossible not to mention: “The Fall of the Roman Empire” by Anthony Mann, “The Day of Vengeance” by Fred Zinnemann and “Genghis Khan the Conqueror” by Henry Levin, in which he played the lead role in a Hollywood film for the first time.

Doctor Zhivago and the collapse In 1965, he was chosen as the lead character in David Lean’s “Doctor Zhivago,” a film that proved to be one of the greatest successes in the history of cinema, winning him a Golden Globe for Best Actor and definitively cementing his reputation as one of the greatest actors of all time. In 1967, she starred in both Anatole Litvak’s Hollywood film “The Night of the Generals” and Francesco Rosi’s very Italian film “More Than a Miracle.” However, it was “Funny Girl” that caused a stir in the Arab world, as the latter also marked the debut of Barbra Streisand, famous for her support of the Zionist state.

From then on, although he continued to act in successful films in Hollywood and around the world in general, he failed to achieve the success he had hoped for, so much so that it was only in 1974 that he began to break the box office again with “The Tamarind Seed” by Blake Edwards. It’s no coincidence that those are also considered the most difficult moments of his acting career, so much so that he lost much of his money on horses and betting, being forced to accept virtually any role; his divorce from Faten Hamama was also finalized in 1974, but it should be noted that the two had been separated since 1966.

The rebirth While continuing to appear in countless films, his fame was effectively relaunched in the late 90s and early 00s with two films in particular: “The 13th Warrior” by John McTiernan (1999), which marked his return to a Hollywood film, and “Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Quran” by François Dupeyron (2003), which also proved to be a critical success, relaunching his career.

He would soon return to prominence with films such as Joe Johnston’s “Hidalgo” (2004), which, while never quite bringing him back to the legendary heights of his past, were nonetheless a fitting way to celebrate a successful career. His very last film was Ahmed Salim’s “1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham” (2015), in which he celebrates the great Arab thinker.

Professional bridge player A curiosity: although Omar Sharif’s world has always been deeply linked to his acting, it is worth mentioning a very particular aspect that de facto marked his career: his passion for bridge. Between 1964 and 2000, he was a professional bridge player, participating in the most important events and actively contributing to the game’s fame worldwide by organizing tournaments and even writing books on the subject, becoming one of the game’s leading experts.

Omar Sharif passed away on July 10, 2015, having left an indelible mark on the world of cinema, establishing Arab and Egyptian cinema as one of the brightest stars of all time. Omar Sharif will be one of the protagonists of Medio Oriente e Dintorni’s ‘Guide’ to Egypt, due out on 25 January, so much so that this article was written for the occasion.

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