AncientFaces Your browser does not support JavaScript!
Please enable JavaScript to view the entire contents of this page.

Omar Sharif 1932 - 2015

Omar Sharif was born on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate Egypt, and died at age 83 years old on July 10, 2015 in Cairo, Cairo Governorate. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Omar Sharif.

Omar Sharif

April 10, 1932

Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt

July 10, 2015

Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt

Male

Looking for another Omar Sharif?

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (1932 - 2015)

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

This page exists for YOU
and everyone who remembers Omar.

Share what you know,
even ask what you wish you knew.

Invite others to do the same,
but don't worry if you can't...

Someone, somewhere will find this page,
and we'll notify you when they do.

Omar Sharif's History: 1932 - 2015

Uncover new discoveries and connections today by sharing about people & moments from yesterday.

- Discover how AncientFaces works.

Introduction

Omar Sharif[a] (Arabic: عمر الشريف‎ Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕomɑɾ eʃʃɪˈɾiːf]; born Michel Dimitri Chalhoub[1] [miˈʃel dɪˈmitɾi ʃælˈhuːb], 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian film and television actor. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s, but is best known for his appearances in British, American, French, and Italian productions. His films include Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Funny Girl (1968). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Lawrence of Arabia. He won three Golden Globe Awards and a César Award. Sharif, who spoke Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Greek, and Italian fluently, was often cast, in British and American films, as a foreigner of some sort. He bridled at travel restrictions imposed by the government of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, leading to self-exile in Europe. He was a lifelong horse racing enthusiast, and at one time ranked among the world's top contract bridge players.
04/10

1932

Birthday

April 10, 1932

Birthdate

Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate Egypt

Birthplace

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Ethnicity & Family History

Sharif, whose adopted surname means "noble" or "nobleman", was born Michel Dimitri Chalhoub (Arabic: ميشيل ديمتري شلهوب‎) in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt (now Arab Republic of Egypt), to a Melkite Catholic family of Lebanese descent. He and his family belonged to a small ethnoreligious minority known as the Antiochian Greek Christians (also known as Rûm). His father, Joseph Chalhoub, a precious woods merchant, moved to the port city of Alexandria with his mother in the early 20th century from Zahle in Lebanon. Sharif was later born in Alexandria.[13] His family moved to Cairo when he was four. His mother, Claire Saada, was a noted society hostess, and Egypt's King Farouk was a regular visitor prior to his deposition in 1952. In his youth, Sharif studied at Victoria College, Alexandria, where he showed a talent for languages. He later graduated from Cairo University with a degree in mathematics and physics. He worked for a while in his father's precious wood business before beginning his acting career in Egypt. In 1955, he changed his name to Omar Sharif and converted to Islam in order to marry fellow Egyptian actress Faten Hamama.
Professional Career

Lawrence of Arabia Sharif's first English-language role was that of (the fictitious) Sherif Ali in David Lean's historical epic Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Sharif was given the role when Dilip Kumar turned it down, Horst Buchholz proved unavailable and Maurice Ronet could not use the contact lenses necessary to hide his eyes. 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. Sharif would later use his ambiguous ethnicity in other films: "I spoke French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and even Arabic", he said. 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. To secure the role, Sharif had to sign a seven-film contract with Columbia at $50,000 a film. Lawrence was a box office and critical sensation. Sharif's performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, as well as a shared Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. Sharif went on to star in another Hollywood film, Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) where he played the support role of Sohaemus of Armenia. Sharif was third-billed in Columbia's Behold a Pale Horse (1964), playing a priest in the Spanish Civil War alongside Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. Director Fred Zinnemann said he chose Sharif partly on the suggestion of David Lean. "He said he was an absolutely marvelous actor, 'If you possibly can, take a look at him.'" Film historian Richard Schickel wrote that Sharif gave a "truly wonderful performance", especially noteworthy because of his totally different roles in Lawrence of Arabia: "It is hard to believe that the priest and the sheik are played by the same man". The film, like Fall of the Roman Empire, was a commercial disappointment. Sharif was one of many stars in MGM's The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), playing a Yugoslav wartime patriot; the movie was a hit. Sharif had his first lead role in a Hollywood movie when he was cast in the title part of Genghis Khan (1965). Produced by Irving Allen and directed by Henry Levin for Columbia, the $4.5 million epic was a box office disappointment. He had a supporting role in a French Marco Polo biopic, Marco the Magnificent (1965), starring Buchholz and Quinn. Doctor Zhivago With Geraldine Chaplin in Doctor Zhivago (1965). While making Genghis Khan Sharif heard that Lean was making an epic love story Doctor Zhivago (1965), an adaptation of Boris Pasternak's 1957 novel. Sharif was a fan of the novel and pitched himself for one of the supporting roles; Lean decided to cast him in the lead, as Yuri Zhivago, a poet and physician. 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 by Maurice Jarre. He noted that Sharif's role is "passive", his eyes reflecting "reality" which then become "the mirror of reality we ourselves see". In a commentary on the DVD (2001 edition), Sharif described Lean's style of directing as similar to a general commanding an army. The film was a huge hit. For his performance, Sharif won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. Doctor Zhivago remains one of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time after adjusting for inflation. Sharif followed it with a cameo in The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966). He, O'Toole and Lawrence producer Sam Spiegel were reunited in The Night of the Generals (1967), playing a German officer in World War II, his fourth movie for Columbia. The film was not a success. Neither was the Italian-French fairytale More Than a Miracle (1967), despite its co-starring Sophia Loren. Funny Girl Sharif was also praised for his portrayal of Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl (1968), at Columbia. He portrayed the husband of Fanny Brice, played by Barbra 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, and the country condemned the film. It was also "immediately banned" in numerous Arab nations. Streisand herself jokingly responded, "You think Cairo was upset? You should've seen the letter I got from my Aunt Rose!" Sharif and Streisand became romantically involved during the filming. 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 started lusting after this woman."
Personal Life & Family

Contract bridge career Sharif playing contract bridge in the Netherlands, 1967. Sharif said bridge was his personal passion and at one time was ranked among the world's top 50 contract bridge players. At the 1964 World Bridge Olympiad he represented the United Arab Republic bridge squad and in 1968 he was playing captain of the Egyptian team in the Olympiad. In 1967 he formed the Omar Sharif Bridge Circus to showcase bridge to the world and invited professional players including members of the Italian Blue team, which won 16 World Championship titles, to tour and promote the game via exhibition matches including one watched by the Shah of Iran. Touring through Europe, the Circus attracted thousands of spectators who watched the matches via Bridge-O-Rama, a new technology (and predecessor to the modern-day VuGraph) that displayed bidding and card play on television monitors. Players included Benito Garozzo, (considered by many as the greatest bridge player of all time) plus his Italian compatriots Pietro Forquet and Giorgio Belladonna and Frenchman Claude Delmouly. In 1970, Sharif and the circus went to London's famous Piccadilly 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 of Mike Ledeen, toured Canada and the U.S. in 1970–71. Sharif's team joined with the Dallas 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. In 1975, sponsored by the Lancia division of Fiat, 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. In 1997, he was a member of the Committee of Honour for the Bermuda 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. With Charles Goren and later Tannah Hirsch, Sharif contributed to a syndicated newspaper bridge column for the Chicago Tribune. He was also both author and co-author of several books on bridge and licensed his name to a bridge video game, Omar Sharif Bridge, initially released in an MS-DOS version and Amiga version in 1992 and is still sold in Windows and mobile platform versions. He was also the hand analyst commentator for the Epson worldwide bridge contests. Sharif was a regular in casinos in France. 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." Sharif, however, 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.
07/10

2015

Death

July 10, 2015

Death date

Heart attack.

Cause of death

Cairo, Cairo Governorate Egypt
Death location

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Obituary

Sharif had a triple heart bypass operation in 1992 and suffered a mild heart attack in 1994. Until his bypass, Sharif smoked 25 cigarettes a day. He quit smoking after the operation. In May 2015, it was reported that Sharif was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. 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 and Lawrence of Arabia, often forgetting where they were filmed. On 10 July 2015, less than six months after his former wife's death at the same age, Sharif died after suffering a heart attack at a hospital in Cairo. 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 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. Omar Sharif passed away on July 10, 2015 at 83 years old. He was born on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate Egypt.

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Looking for more information?
share

Memories

below

Join one other
who remembers Omar

Select options below to share special moments.

Nationality & Locations Early Life & Education Baptism Religious Beliefs Military Service Gravesite & Burial Add Memory Add Photo Ask others to share

Share what you remember.
Ask what you wish to know.
Connect to discover more.
Advertisement
Did you know?

Omar Sharif lived 27 years longer than the average family member when died at the age of 83.

ADVERTISEMENT BY
Looking for more information?
share

Memories

below

7 Memories, Stories & Photos about Omar

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar Sharif with wife and son.

Family stroll.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar with Barbra Streisand.

FUNNY GIRL movie photo.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar Sharif.

His parents were Lebanese Christians so he went from Michel Dimitri Chalhoub to Omar Sharif.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Omar Sharif with Siobhan McKenna in Doctor Zhivago.

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar Sharif with Siobhan McKenna in Doctor Zhivago.

The movie helped make him a star.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Happily married and young.

Omar and his wife.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar Sharif

Publicity Shot.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

05/07/2021

Omar Sharif in Black Tie.

Formally dressed.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Loading...one moment please

- See how biographies work.

Be the 1st to share and we'll let you know when others do the same.

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

Omar Sharif's Family Tree & Friends

Omar Sharif's Family Tree

Parent

Omar Sharif Apr 10, 1932 - Jul 10, 2015

Partner

Child

Sibling

Friendships

Omar's Friends

1 Follower & Sources

Connect with others who remember Omar Sharif to share and discover more memories. People who have contributed to this page are listed below and in the Biography History of changes. Sign in to your free account to view changes.

ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM

Other Biographies