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Legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif – star of films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago – has died at the age of 83.
The Egyptian-born actor had been in a hospital for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, his agent said.
Sharif rose to international stardom with his role in the 1962 epic Lawrence Of Arabia – his first English-language film.
He earned an Oscar nomination for his turn as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s iconic film opposite Peter O’Toole.
Sharif followed the breakthrough performance with the title role in Lean’s Doctor Zhivago, co-starring Julie Christie.
He then played Fanny Brice’s husband, Nicky Arnstein, in Funny Girl alongside Barbra Streisand.
James Cameron-Wilson, the executive editor of the Film Review Annual, said Sharif was “probably the most famous Egyptian since Tutankamun”.
“What was extraordinary about him was those amazing liquid brown eyes. He was a massive screen idol and Latin lover writ large,” he told Sky News.
“One of the reasons he was so succesful was that his knowledge of English was so good. If you compare him to somebody today like Antonio Banderas, it is very hard to understand what Antonio Banderas is talking about.
“He was a real screen legend.”
Sharif was also known as a highly-accomplished bridge player, co-writing a newspaper column on the card game for the Chicago Tribune.
His grandson, Omar Sharif Jr, posted a picture of himself and the actor on Facebook on 3 July with the message: “I love you.”
His last completed feature film credits were in 2013.
Agencies/Canadajournal
