Omar Sharif, sometimes called "The Noble", would have been 86 years old on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.
In honour of Sharif's birthday, Google is changing its logo in 48 countries to an illustration of him.
This is a snapshot of his story:
Early steps
Born in 1932 to Syrian Lebanese parents in Alexandria, Egypt, Sharif's birth name was Michel Demitri Shalhoub.
Before becoming an actor, he graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics from Cairo University and worked for several years at his father's lumber company.
He left the family business and went on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Britain's capital.
In 1954, he began his acting career and starred in films with one of Egypt's leading actresses, Faten Hamama.
In 1955, he converted to Islam, changed his name to Omar Sharif, and married Faten soon after. They had a son, Tarek, before separating in 1966 and divorcing in 1974.
International fame
Sharif appeared in a number of Egyptian films before the British director David Lean added him to the cast of Lawrence of Arabia.
appeared in a number of Egyptian films before the British director David Lean added him to the cast of Lawrence of Arabia. Sharif played the role of an Arab warrior. The scene showing his arrival is considered a classic piece of cinema.
He first appears as a tiny dot in the desert horizon, growing larger as his camel gallops into the frame with Peter O'Toole.
His performance brought him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, propelling him to international fame.
But international recognition came at a hefty personal price, as Sharif intimated in an interview with The Associated Press news agency in 2003.
"It separated me from my wife, from my family ... We didn't see each other any more and that was it, the end of our wedding," he said. "I might have been happier having stayed an Egyptian film star."
I might have been happier having stayed an Egyptian film star. Omar Sharif
Career struggles
After winning a third Golden Globe award for acting in Doctor Zhivago, Sharif's career went downhill.
He attributed his change of film fortune to what he called ''the cultural revolution'' at the end of the 1960s, as new directors focused on "making films about their own societies. There was no more room for a foreigner, so suddenly there were no more parts [for him to act]'," Sharif said.
He began appearing in films such as "The Pink Panther Strikes Again", and others he dismissed as "rubbish".
"I lost my self-respect and dignity," he told a reporter in 2004. "Even my grandchildren were making fun of me. 'Grandpa, that was really bad. And this one? It's worse'."
I lost my self-respect and dignity Omar Sharif
Health problems
Sharif had a triple heart bypass in 1992 and suffered a mild heart attack in 1994. At the time, he was declining film offers.
Away from his cinema career, Sharif was a world-class bridge player and also wrote on bridge for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. He quit the game in later years.
In May 2015, Sharif was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and was struggling to remember the biggest films of his career, according to his son, Tarek.
Sharif died in Cairo after suffering a heart attack on July 10, 2015, less than six months after his ex-wife's death.
Accolades
Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor best known for starring in films such as Doctor Zhivago, is celebrated in the latest Google Doodle on what would have been his 86th birthday.
After beginning his screen career as a teenager in his native country, he was catapulted to international fame by a Golden Globe-winning turn in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
He earned further plaudits three years later with a leading role as the titular Russian medic and poet in Doctor Zhivago as he became one of few Arabic actors to break into the Hollywood mainstream.
Google Doodles
92 show all Google Doodles
1/92 Omar Sharif Google Doodle celebrating Omar Sharif Google
2/92 Maya Angelou Google Doodle celebrating Maya Angelou Google
3/92 John Harrison Google Doodle celebrating John Harrison Google
4/92 Hannah Glasse Google Doodle celebrating Hannah Glasse Google
5/92 Katsuko Saruhashi Google Doodle celebrating Katsuko Saruhashi Google
6/92 Guillermo Haro Google Doodle celebrating Guillermo Haro Google
7/92 Sir William Henry Perkin Google Doodle celebrating Sir William Henry Perkin Google
8/92 Gabriel Garcia Marquez Google Doodle celebrating Gabriel Garcia Marquez Google
9/92 Holi Google Doodle celebrating Holi Google
10/92 St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google
11/92 Carter G Woodson Google Doodle celebrating Carter G Woodson Google
12/92 Wilder Penfield Google Doodle celebrating Wilder Penfield Google
13/92 Virginia Woolf Google Doodle celebrating Virginia Woolf Google
14/92 Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Eisenstein Google
15/92 Winter Solstice Google Doodle celebrating Winter Solstice Google
16/92 St Andrew's Day Google Doodle celebrating St Andrew's Day Google
17/92 Gertrude Jekyll Google Doodle celebrating Gertrude Jekyll Google
18/92 Children's Day 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Children's Day 2017 Google
19/92 Cornelia Sorabji Google Doodle celebrating Cornelia Sorabji Google
20/92 Pad Thai Google Doodle celebrating Pad Thai Google
21/92 Jackie Forster Google Doodle celebrating Jackie Forster Google
22/92 Halloween 2017 Google Doodle celebrating Halloween 2017 Google
23/92 Studio for Electronic Music Google Doodle celebrating the Studio for Electronic Music Google
24/92 Selena Quintanilla Google Doodle celebrating Selena Quintanilla Google
25/92 Olaudah Equiano Google Doodle celebrating Olaudah Equiano Google
26/92 Fridtjof Nansen Google Doodle celebrating Fridtjof Nansen Google
27/92 Amalia Hernandez Google Doodle celebrating Amalia Hernandez Google
28/92 Dr Samuel Johnson Google Doodle celebrating Dr Samuel Johnson Google
29/92 Sir John Cornforth Google Doodle celebrating Sir John Cornforth Google
30/92 British Sign Language Google Doodle celebrating British Sign Language Google
31/92 Eduard Khil Google Doodle celebrating Eduard Khil Google
32/92 James Wong Howe Google Doodle celebrating James Wong Howe Google
33/92 Eiko Ishioka Google Doodle celebrating Eiko Ishioka Google
34/92 Eva Ekeblad Google Doodle celebrating Eva Ekeblad Google
35/92 Fourth of July Google Doodle celebrating Fourth of July Google
36/92 Wimbledon Championship Google Doodle celebrating Wimbledon Google
37/92 Victor Hugo Google Doodle celebrating Victor Hugo Google
38/92 Google Doodle celebrating Oskar Fischinger Google Doodle celebrating Oskar Fischinger Google
39/92 UK General Election 2017 Google celebrates the UK General Election Google
40/92 Zaha Hadid Google celebrates the acclaimed architect for becoming the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize on this day in 2004 Google
41/92 Richard Oakes Google Doodle celebrating Richard Oakes' 75 birthday Google
42/92 Google Doodle celebrating the Antikythera Mechanism Google Doodle celebrating the Antikythera Mechanism Google
43/92 Ferdinand Monoyer The famous French ophthalmologist, who invented the eye test, would have celebrated his 181st birthday today Google
44/92 Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google Doodle celebrating Giro d'Italia's 100th Anniversary Google
45/92 Google Doodle celebrating Nasa's Cassini probe Google Doodle celebrating Nasa's Cassini probe Google
46/92 Google Doodle celebrating Fazlur Rahman Khan Google Doodle celebrating Fazlur Rahman Khan Google
47/92 Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google Doodle celebrating Sergei Diaghilev Google
48/92 Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. Patrick's Day Google
49/92 Google Doodle celebrating Holi Festival Google Doodle celebrating Holi Festival Google
50/92 Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google Doodle celebrating St. David's Day Google
51/92 Abdul Sattar Edhi Google Doodle of Abdul Sattar Edhi on February 28 2017 Google
52/92 Seven earth-sized exoplanets discovered Google Doodle celebrates Nasa's discovery of seven earth-sized exoplanets in new solar system Google
53/92 Bessie Coleman Google Doodle honours the first African American woman to get an international pilot licence on her 125th birthday Google
54/92 Caroling Google Doodle celebrates Christmas caroling Google
55/92 Today's Google Doodle features activist Steve Biko Google
56/92 Walter Cronkite Google celebrates Walter Cronkite's 100th birthday
57/92 Ladislao José Biro Google celebrates Ladislao José Biro 117th birthday
58/92 Google Google celebrates its 18th birthday
59/92 The history of tea in Britain Google celebrates the 385th anniversary of tea in the UK
60/92 Autumnal equinox 2016 Google marks the start of fall
61/92 Paralympics 2016 Google marks the start of the Paralympic Games 2016
62/92 Nettie Stevens Google celebrates Nettie Stevens 155th birthday
63/92 Father's Day 2016 Google celebrates Father's Day
64/92 Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Google celebrates Elizabeth Garrett Anderson 180th birthday
65/92 Earth Day 2016 Google celebrates Earth Day
66/92 Ravi Shankar Google marks Pandit Ravi Shankar's 96th birthday
67/92 Olympic Games in 1896 Google are celebrates the 120th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games in 1896
68/92 World Twenty20 final Google celebrates the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket final between the West Indies and England with a doodle Google
69/92 William Morris Google celebrates William Morris' 182 birthday with a doodle showcasing his most famous designs Google
70/92 St Patrick's Day 2016 Googlle celebrates St Patrick's Day on 17 March
71/92 Caroline Herschel Google marks Caroline Herschel's 266th birthday Google
72/92 Clara Rockmore Google celebrates Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday
73/92 International Women's Day 2016 #OneDayIWill video marks International Woman's Day on 8 March
74/92 St David's Day 2016 Google marks St David's Day Google
75/92 Leap Year 2016 Google celebrates Leap Day on 28 February 2 Google
76/92 Lantern Festival 2016 Google celebrates the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations with a doodle of the Lantern Festival Google
77/92 Stethoscope Inventor, René Laennec Google celebrate's René Laennec's 235th birthday
78/92 Valentine's Day 2016 Google celebrates Valentine's Day with a romantic Doodle
79/92 Dmitri Mendeleev Google celebrate Dmitri Mendeleev's 182nd birthday
80/92 "The televisor" demonstartion Google Doodle celebrates 90 years since the first demonstration of television or "the televisor" to the public
81/92 Professor Scoville Google marks Professor Scoville’s 151st birthday
82/92 Sophie Taeuber-Arp Google marks Sophie Taeuber-Arp's 127th birthday
83/92 Charles Perrault Google celebrates author Charles Perrault's 388th birthday
84/92 Mountain of Butterflies discovery Google celebrates the 41st anniversary of the discovery of the Mountain of Butterflies
85/92 Winter Solstice 2015 Google celebrate the Winter Solstice
86/92 St Andrew's Day 2015 Google marks St Andrew's Day with doodle featuring Scotland's flag and Loch Ness monster
87/92 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy' Google marks the 41st anniversary of the discovery of 'Lucy', the name given to a collection of fossilised bones that once made up the skeleton of a hominid from the Australopithecus afarensis species, who lived in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago
88/92 George Boole Google marks George Boole's 200th birthday
89/92 Halloween 2015 Google celebrates Halloween using an interactive doodle game "Global Candy Cup"
90/92 Prague Astronomical Clock Google celebrates the 605th anniversary of the Prague Astronomical Clock, one of the oldest functioning timepieces in the world
91/92 Autumnal Equinox 2015 Google marks the autumnal equinox on 23 September
92/92 International Women's Day 2018 Google marks IWD with a doodle featuring a dozen female artists from 12 different countries
He also lived an eventful life away from the big screen.
Here are five things you might know about Sharif.
1. He was a champion bridge player
After reportedly learning how to play contact bridge to pass the time on movie sets, Sharif developed a passion for the card game that eclipsed his enjoyment of acting.
He grew into an expert player and for a time was ranked among the top 50 in the world.
During the 1970s he wrote a bridge column for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, and authored several books on the game.
“I’d rather be playing bridge than making a bad movie,” he once said.
However, he later stopped playing entirely, saying he considered his passion for the game to have grown into an unhealthy addiction.
2. He once punched Ian Dury
After encountering Sharif in a London club in 1985, rock star Dury – apparently a few drinks worse for wear – decided to impart some film criticism to the actor, who had been dining with a young female companion.
“I think the first film you made was your best one, everything else was s**t,” he told him.
An argument broke out between the pair that culminated in Sharif leaping from his seat and repeatedly punching Dury in the face, according to Richard Balls’ biography of the Blockheads frontman.
Omar Sharif's life in pictures
18 show all Omar Sharif's life in pictures
1/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures American actress and singer Barbra Streisand with actor Omar Sharif (whose name is misspelt on the chair behind), circa 1980. They are recreating their love scene from the 1968 film 'Funny Girl' Getty Images
2/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif and Pierre Boulanger in Monsieur Ibrahim (2003) Sony Pictures
3/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Geraldine Chaplin and Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965) Warner Bros
4/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
5/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Geraldine Chaplin and Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
6/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Julie Christie and Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965) Warner Bros
7/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif and Rod Steiger in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
8/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Julie Christie and Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
9/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Julie Christie and Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965)
10/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia
11/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif and Ralph Richardson in Doctor Zhivago (1965) Warner Bros
12/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures 25th January 1980: Actor Omar Sharif at the Sunday Times International Bridge Pairs Championships, in London. Getty Images
13/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Actors Anouk Aimee and Omar Sharif in a scene from the film 'The Appointment', 1969. Getty Images
14/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Omar Sharif is Prince Romodanovsky, Olegar Fedoro is Boyar Lopukhin in 'Peter the Great'
15/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif and Zuleikha Robinson in Hidalgo (2004) Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
16/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Still of Omar Sharif in Monsieur Ibrahim (2003) Sony Pictures
17/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Actor Omar Sherif attends the Closing Ceremony at the Sala Grande during the 66th Venice Film Festival in 2009 in Venice, Italy Getty Images
18/18 Omar Sharif's life in pictures Omar Sharif speaks after he was awarded as Best actor of the year during the 29th Nuit des Cesars at the Chatelet theatre in Paris in 2004 Getty Images
It was not the only time Sharif’s temper got the better of him.
In 2003 he was given a suspended sentence for headbutting a police officer in a Parisian casino.
“It made me the hero of the whole of France,” he later said, unapologetically. “To headbutt a cop is the dream of every Frenchman.”
3. He was a big fan of Hull City Football Club
Sharif shared a flat with Hull-born actor Tom Courtenay in the 1960s, during which time the Yorkshireman passed on his passion for the Tigers.
Sharif remained a lifelong Hull City fan and was awarded an honorary degree by the city’s university in 2010.
Courtenay and Sharif reunited at Wembley to watch their beloved team narrowly beaten by Arsenal in the 2014 FA Cup final.
4. He claimed to receive thousands of marriage proposals a week
Strikingly handsome and notoriously charming, Sharif once boasted he received 3,000 offers of marriage in Doctor Zhivago's opening week.
He in fact married just the once, to fellow Egyptian actor Faten Hamama, with whom he feel in love after they co-starred in a film early in his career. He converted to Islam and changed his name from Michael Shalhoub to Omar el-Sharif so they could marry, but they divorced 19 years later after having one son together.
Although he never remarried, there were many more women in his life. Commenting on a second son he fathered during a brief affair with an Italian journalist in 1969, he said: “I don’t consider him to be my son, although I concede that he was probably produced by a sperm of mine. But then it is possible that I might have 100,000 sons.”
5. A besotted fan tried to seduce him at gunpoint
While staying in a hotel room in Dallas in the 1960s a drunken female fan forced her way into Sharif’s hotel room and ordered him to take his clothes off.
But an essential part of his anatomy, quite understandably, refused to respond to the threat of a bullet.
“Using her free hand she sought to encourage me,” he later recounted. ”In vain. As it would have been with anyone.”
Omar Sharif pictured in 1960 (Picture: Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
Omar Sharif has been honoured by today’s Google Doodle on what would have been his 86th birthday.
Omar was an Egyptian actor with Lebanese origins.
Born 10 April 1932 in Alexandra, Egypt, as Michel Dimitri Chalhoub, his chosen name Omar Sharif means ‘nobleman’.
Omar died on 10 July 2015 in Cairo, Egypt at the age of 83.
While his career began in Egypt, with his first film role being in The Blazing Sun (1954), it is his work on British and American films that he is most known for, as well as his love of Europe.
Omar Sharif looking over the desert in a scene from the film ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’, 1962. (Picture: Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)
Some of his English language films include Lawrence Of Arabia (1962), which was his first English-language role, Doctor Zhivago (1965), Funny Girl (1968) and The 13th Warrior (1999).
Omar Sharif, as Yuri, and Julie Christie as Lara, in a publicity still for ‘Doctor Zhivago’, directed by David Lean, 1965. (Picture: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
The stars of the film ‘A Last Valley’, (from left to right) British actor Michael Caine, Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan and Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, at a reception at the Dorchester Hotel, London in 1969 (Picture: Michael Webb/Keystone/Getty Images)
During his career, Omar won a Cesar Award, three Golden Globe Awards and he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role as Sherif Ali in Lawrence Of Arabia. He lost out to Ed Begley who won for his film Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).
Advertisement
Advertisement
Omar wasn’t just a talented actor though, he also had a talent for languages, able to speak Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Italian fluently.
And that’s not all – he was also ranked in the top 50 of the world’s best bridge players.
Omar Sharif taking part in a bridge tournament at the Grand Hotel, Folkestone, in June 1964 (Picture: Powell/Express/Getty Images)
Omar was married to Egyptian actress Faten Hamama from 1955 to 1974. He had converted to Islam to marry her.
However, they split when he decided to move to Europe, angered by the travel restrictions placed on him by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. This led to his amicable divorce from Faten.
Omar Sharif and ex-wife Faten Hamama in a scene from the film ‘Siraa Fil-Wadi’ in 1954 (Picture: Nile Cinema Company/Getty Images)
Faten Hamama with her and Omar’s four-year-old son Tarek in 1961 (Picture: Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)
Faten died in the same year as Omar, six months earlier in January 2015 in Cairo.
The pair had a son together, Tarek Sharif, 61, and two grandsons, Omar Sharif Jr and Karim.
Omar Sharif, with French actors Catherine Deneuve (L) and Annie Girardot, displaying their ‘Prix Triomphe Cinema’ awards in France in 1971 (Picture: RDA/Getty Images)
Omar used to smoke 100 cigarettes a day but when he had a triple heart bypass in 1992, he quit.
He died from a heart attack.
MORE: Martin Luther King quotes and his I Have a Dream speech in full
MORE: Who was Dr Maya Angelou and when did she die as Google Doodle celebrates poet’s 90th birthday
