Omar Sharif

Michael Shalhoub (his real name) came into the world in Alexandria (Egypt) on April 10, 1932. He came from a Christian family, of Lebanese origin, with a comfortable position, thanks to his business, in the wood sector. He was always such a great student that he ended up graduating in Mathematics and Physics from Cairo University. After finishing his studies, he dedicated himself for a while to the family business, but soon decided that acting was his thing. He was 22 years old when he made his debut, by the hand of Youssef Chahine , considered one of the masters of Egyptian cinema, who recruited him as the lead in Siraa Fil-Wadi ., a sweetened romantic drama that was all the rage, especially among female audiences. She adopted the stage name Omar El-Sharif. “I chose it so that Westerners could pronounce it, because since I started I was very clear that I wanted to fight to be known throughout the world,” recalls the actor.

During the filming, Sharif fell in love with his co-star, Faten Hamama, a mass idol in Egypt, with whom he would star in more films, which were sweeping the Arab countries. Finally, Sharif converted to Islam, in order to marry her in 1956, and they both had a son: Tarek. Later, when he left Hamama, Sharif had another son, Ruban, with Paola de Luca, an Italian journalist. He always complained that his marriage was short-lived. “My marriage broke down because my profession forces me to travel from one place to another. Because I live like a vagabond, I think I have never reached happiness”, he affirmed. He was a very popular hunk in his country when he was recruited by the British David Lean, who was looking for an Arab actor who could speak fluent English to play Prince Ali Sherif inLawrence of Arabia . For Sharif it was the most important job of his career, despite the fact that filming was long and hard. “I spent two years working on the film, without a bathroom and without women. It was like military service, ”recalls the actor, who was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting role for his performance. Lean’s film gave Sharif international recognition, and opened the doors of great historical blockbusters, such asThe fall of the roman empire ,The adventures of Marco Polo , orGenghis Khan , where he played the famous emperor of the Mongols. He also appeared in The Yellow Rolls Royce and played a Spaniard inAnd the day of revenge arrived , by Fred Zinnemann , just before Lean hired him again, this time as the lead, fromDoctor Zhivago , unforgettable adaptation of Boris Pasternak ‘s novel . The role, one of the most memorable of his career, was originally going to go to Peter O’Toole, with whom he had worked on Lawrence of Arabia , but he finally turned it down. “I have good and bad memories of the film. Good because I played a great character that evolved over many years. But also bad, because while we were filming I divorced my wife”, recalls the actor. Sharif’s first son, Tarek, played Zhivago as a child.

The divorce weighed heavily on Shariff, because after moving away from Hamama, he never had a stable partner again, and only occasional romances, sometimes with a star, like Barbra Streisand , his co-star inFunny Girl , a great musical by William Wyler. “My fame as a conqueror is a big lie, because I don’t think he had more conquests than any man in the street. In addition, after the divorce I have only had affairs without consequences, ”says the actor who succumbed to gambling when he was carried away by his passion for bridge. Sometimes the game interested him more than the filming, which is why he even demanded that they be postponed or refused when there were international bridge competitions. “I have come to lose up to a million dollars in one night, something that I could not afford. And it’s because I was alone, because I was bored and I needed strong emotions. It’s a shame that I didn’t have a woman by my side”, recalls the actor. Apparently, he inherited the hobby from his mother, and combined with alcohol it is disastrous,

On the screen, Sharif always fared better than in his private life, since he appeared in big films at the end of the 60s, such as the westernMackenna’s Gold , and the thrillerThe Night of the Generals , which paired him up with Peter O’Toole again, and in which he was a Nazi officer investigating a murder committed by a general. In the 70s and 80s his star faded, despite the fact that he continued to appear in titles such as Pride of Lineage , The Last Resort ,The mysterious islandThe riddle is called Juggernaut orThe pink panther strikes again . Little by little he was relegated to secondary luxury, as can be seen inTop Secret , with the hilarious sequence of the blind salesman selling ‘joke items’.

Although after the resounding failure ofThe 13th Warrior seriously considered retiring from the movies, finally decided to stay active, and achieved great success withMr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran , by François Dupeyron . In this adaptation of Eric Emmanuel Schmitt’s novel, he plays a Muslim shopkeeper who befriends a Jewish teenager. He after he was an Arabian prince, like Lawrence of Arabia inOceans of Fire , and the narrator of10,000 , Roland Emmerich ‘s prehistoric blockbuster.