Omar Sharif has died at the age of 83. The Lawrence of Arabia actor passed away on Friday, July 10.
“He suffered a heart attack this afternoon in a hospital in Cairo,” his agent, Steve Kenis, told BBC News.
Sharif was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease earlier this year. “It’s difficult to determine what stage. It’s obvious he won’t improve and will get worse,” his son, Tarek Sharif, told Spanish newspaper El Mundo in May, via The Telegraph.
The Alexandria, Egypt native [real name: Michel Shalhoub] earned a physics and mathematics degree from Cairo University and worked for his family’s lumber business before breaking out in Hollywood. He’s perhaps best known for playing Sherif Ali in the 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, which was also his first English language role.
“When I made this film I thought: ‘This is a crazy thing. There are no girls, no very famous actors at that time, only men and no action, not a lot of action. Not a lot of fights…'” he told The Guardian in 2012. “It was so good because the director [David Lean] was a brilliant man. That’s the truth. David Lean was a great, great man. Great man.” (He received a Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar nomination for his work.)
In addition, Sharif — who spoke six languages — notably played Nick Arnstein in 1968’s Funny Girl opposite Barbra Streisand and its sequel Funny Lady. He also starred as Yuri in 1965’s Doctor Zhivago, and in films such as More Than a Miracle, Mackenna’s Gold, Hidalgo, Monsieur Ibraham, and One Night with the King. He last worked on the short 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham, which is now in post-production.
Sharif’s stellar Hollywood career spanned more than 60 years and included over 118 TV and movie roles.
When not acting, the Golden Globe-winning actor was an avid bridge player and wrote several books about the topic, including Omar Sharif’s Life in Bridge (1983), Play Bridge with Omar Sharif (1990), and Play More Bridge with Omar Sharif (1994). He also wrote a syndicated column on the game for the Chicago Tribune in the 1970s.
Sharif is survived by his son Tarek Sharif and two grandsons. The late star and actress Faten Hamama divorced in 1974 after 19 years of marriage.
