Omar Sharif, of “Doctor Zhivago”, “Lawrence of Arabia”, dies

He was married to fellow actor Faten Hamama, with whom he worked in the 1953 film “The Blazing Sun“. They had a son. The couple were divorced in 1974 and Sharif never remarried. The actor is said to have had memorable roles in a variety of films.

Sharif was a star of Egyptian cinema before making his English-language debut in the sprawling 1962 epic, opposite Peter O’Toole.

Omar Sharif has died aged 83, and tributes have poured out on Twitter from devastated fans.

For his next big film after Lawrence of Arabia, Sharif transformed himself from an Arab freedom fighter to a Russian revolutionary poet in Doctor Zhivago. He was caught on video in 2011 apparently slapping a journalist after she attempted to take a photo with him at the Doha worldwide film festival.

“Not that kind of actor”.

Several other major roles followed, and Sharif reunited with Lean in 1965 to lead his adaptation of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago.

Omar played Che Guevera in Che! and acted alongside Oscar-winning actress Barbra Streisand in the film amusing Girl. He was a German officer in “The Night of the Generals“, an Austrian prince in “Mayerling” and a Mexican outlaw in “Mackenna’s Gold“.

Only “Funny Girl” was a success and Sharif came under increasing criticism for stiff and uninspired performances.

“I haven’t a clue. And that’s how I started to become an actor”. But “it separated me from my wife, from my family… I was very close to her, even though she beat me all the time!”

The 1960s proved to be Mr. Sharif’s best, busiest and most visible decade in Hollywood.

His most recent film credit was for a role in the 2013 film Rock the Casbah.

Icon… Omar Sharif in 1996.