OMAR SHARIF BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Omar Sharif was born on April 10th, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt with the birth name Michel Demitri Shahoub to Joseph a lumber merchant and his wife Claire. He attended University at Victoria College in Cairo, Egypt with a degree in mathematics and physics. After completing his education, he entered into his family's Lumber business.
He was very interested in acting, and first became a well known star in Egypt with his first role on, "Siraa Fil-Wadi" (1954) which means (The Blazing Sun). On this film he met his one and only wife, actress Faten Hamama. They married in 1955 and he converted to Islam and took on the name Omar al-Sharif. Together they had one child, Tarek Sharif born in 1957. The couple divorced in 1974 and Sharif never remarried.
He went on to perform in several other Middle-Eastern Films including, "Goha" (1958) and it was not too long before British director, David Lean, scouted him and cast him in his first English speaking film, "Lawrence of Arabia". The success of this film open his real door to acting and he earned his first award for Best Supporting actor an academy award nomination.
His most well known role was in, "Dr. Zhivago" (1965) also directed by Lean. Some of his other films he appeared in were, "Funny Girl"(1968) and "The Baltimore Bullet" (1980).
Sharif was also a well known world class bridge player. He was known to miss film shoots for Bridge tournaments. He also wrote several books on bridge and has licensed his name to a bridge computer game, "Omar Sharif Bridge" which has been on the market since 1992.
Recently he has starred in other films such as, "Cyber Meltdown" (2004), and "Return of the Thief of Baghdad" (2003). He has been featured in many films as well such as, "Hidalgo" (2004), "The Parole Office" (2001) and "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" (2003) in which he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actor César, France's equivalent of the Oscar, from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma.
His acting career was not only limited to film. Sharif also worked on television with roles in, "Mythes urbains", "Les" (2003) "The Citadel" (2001), "Mayrig" (1993), "Memories of Midnight" (1991), and "Principe del Deserto, II" (1989). Some of Omar Sharif's early television show appearances were in, "Far Pavilions" (1984) and "Peter the Great" (1986).
Sharif underwent triple bypass surgery in 1992 and suffered a mild heart attack in 1994 due to his extravagant smoking habit of almost 100 cigarettes daily. As of 2009, he is one of only six performers who won a Golden Globe Award as Best Lead Actor in a Motion picture Drama without being nominated for an Oscar for the same role for the film, "Dr. Zhivago" (1965).
Filmography
1959 Goha
1962 Lawrence of Arabia
1964 Behold a Pale Horse
1965 Genghis Khan
1965 Doctor Zhivago
1967 The Night Of The Generals
1968 Funny Girl
1968 Mayerling
1969 The Appointment
1974 The Tamarind Seed
1974 Juggernaut
1975 Funny Lady
1976 Crime and Passion
1979 Ashanti
1980 Pleasure Palace
1980 The Baltimore Bullet
1982 Return to Eden
1989 The Rainbow
1990 Mountains of the Moon
1990 Journey of Love
1992 588 rue paradis
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces
2003 Mr Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Quran
2004 Hidalgo
2005 One Night With the King
