Omar Sharif

Egyptian actor (1932–2015)

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Egypt rank#93

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Fame68.0
Momentum14.7
Egypt rank#93
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Lived 1932–2015, aged 83Egypt

Egypt ActorsActor

Wikipedia
82 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Egypt
#93
Actors
Era
1932–2015
Aged 83
Known for
Lawrence of Arabia
1962

Summary

Updated 2026-08-31

He walked out of Cairo's studio system and into David Lean's desert, becoming the first Arab actor to command leading roles in Hollywood's biggest films — a bridge between worlds at a time when that was almost unthinkable.

Biography

About

Born Michel Chalhoub in 1932, he started in Egyptian cinema in the early 1950s before Lean cast him opposite Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), earning an Oscar nomination. Doctor Zhivago (1965) made him a global romantic lead and won him a Golden Globe. He moved between Hollywood productions — Funny Girl (1968), Genghis Khan (1965), Che! (1969) — and European work, speaking five languages and chafing at Nasser's travel restrictions in the 1960s. His 100-film career stretched into old age with Monsieur Ibrahim (2003), and he kept working until 2015, the year he died. He was a world-cl…

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