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Arts and Cultures
Omar Sharif: An Arab Legend
Hasan A. Yahya
One of the leading few legendary actors in Arab cinema, was Omar al-Sharif (born
Michael Demitri Shalhoub;
April 10, 1932) is an Egyptian actor who has starred in many Hollywood films.
He is most famous for his roles in Doctor Zhivago,
Funny Girl and Lawrence of Arabia. Sharif has been nominated for an Academy
Award and has won a Golden Globe.
In his time, two other famous actors: Rushdie Abazah, and Ahmad Ramzi were rising together as young graduates from Alexandaria school. He was the selected Arab person to join
Hollywood. Sharif was fluent in three languages: Arabic, English, and French. And
later he has knowledge of some Italian, and Spanish.
As of his personal
life, he was born Michael Shalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt, to Egyptian Catholic parents. In a 4 September
2009 television program on Nile Cinema, Omar specifically denied published
claims that his family had originated in Lebanon as often reported, and
affirmed that his parents and all his grandparents were born in Egypt. He
recalled spending time in his childhood in his maternal grandparents' home in
Tanta, Egypt. He was very attached to his grandmother, 'Abla
Abdallah, who lived for more than 100 years. He
graduated from Alexandria’s Victoria College, then from Cairo University with a
mathematics and physics major.
Originally a Christian converted to Islam to marry Egyptian actress Faten Hamama who was also an
actress, in
1955. The couple had one son, Tarek El-Sharif, who
appeared in Doctor Zhivago as Yuri at the age of
eight. They separated in 1966 and the marriage ended in 1974. Sharif never
remarried; he stated that since his divorce, he never fell in love with another
woman, and that, although he lived abroad for years,
it was not possible for him to fall in love with a woman who was not Egyptian.
In a 2007 interview, Sharif denied rumors that he had become atheist. He’s
remained a firm believer in God and Islam, and had performed a
Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca) three or four years
earlier.
Sharif lived in his native Egypt from birth in 1932 till he moved to Europe
in 1965. Omar recounts that, in 1932, his father "wasn't a wealthy
man", but "earned quite a bit of money". Before the Egyptian
Revolution of 1952, King Farouq frequented Omar's
family's house, and became a friend and card game partner of Omar's mother. His
mother was an elegant and charming host who was all too delighted with the
association because it gave her the privilege of "consorting only with the
elite" of Egyptian society. Omar also recounts that his father's timber
business sky-rocketed during that time, in ways that Omar himself describes as
dishonest or immoral.
By contrast, after 1952, Omar states that wealth changed hands (or names)
in Egypt, under Nasir’s nationalization
policies. His father's business "took a beating". Travel restrictions
in the form of "exit visas" were required of Egyptians, and his own
travel to take part in international films was sometimes impeded, which he
could not tolerate. The Nasser government's travel restrictions influenced
Omar's decision to remain in Europe between his film
shoots, a decision that cost him his marriage to Egyptian film legend Faten Hamama, though they
remained friends. It was a major cross-roads in Omar's
life and changed him from an established family man to a life-long bachelor
living in European hotels. When commenting about his fame and life in
Hollywood, Sharif said, "It gave me glory, but it gave me loneliness also.
And a lot of missing my own land, my own people and my own
country." His Egyptian citizenship was almost withdrawn by Nasir’s government when Omar's affair with
Barbra Streisand (a loud supporter of Israel) was made public in the Egyptian
press.
Sharif became friends with Peter O'Toole during the making of Lawrence of
Arabia. They have appeared in several other films together and remain close
friends. He is also good friends with Egyptologist Zahi
Hawass.
Sharif underwent a triple bypass surgery in 1992, and suffered a mild heart
attack in 1994. Sharif had smoked 100 cigarettes a day; after the surgery, he
quit easily.
On August 5, 2003, As a normal person act
according to circumstances. Had some troubles dealing
peacefully with others. For example, he received a one-month suspended
prison sentence for striking a police officer in a suburban Parisian casino in
July. He was fined $1700 and ordered to pay the officer $340 in damages. (He
had insulted and then head-butted the Pontoise
policeman, who tried to intervene in an argument between the actor and a
roulette croupier. On February 13, 2007 Sharif was "found guilty of
assaulting a Beverly Hills parking lot attendant and breaking his nose".
On the political stand, Omar Sharif said the “East” will never have a
democracy because people like him “prefer to go to the neighborhood chief”. In
the interview, Sharif reportedly blasted U.S. policy in Iraq and said Americans
are ignorant. Sharif also claimed to have spoken with U.S President George W.
Bush before the beginning of the Iraq War, telling him that Arabs were not like
westerners and that Arab nations were made up of sects resistant to becoming
democratized.
Actor and friend Tom Courtenay revealed in an interview for the July 19,
2008 edition of BBC Radio's Test Match Special that Sharif supported Hull City
and in the 1970s would telephone their automated scoreline
from his home in Paris for score updates.
As family relations, at present, Omar Sharif resides mostly in Cairo with his family. In addition to his son, he has two grandsons, Omar and Karim. Omar has denied that his older grandson, Omar, is Jewish. The younger Omar is in fact a Muslim. ( 962 words) www.dryahyatv.vom
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Hasan Yahya
is a professor of sociology, an American Arab scholar, and columnist in several
newspapers and Internet
sites. He resides in Michigan, USA. He authored 25 plus books on
sociology, psychology, poetry, politics, short stories
in both Arabic and English. He also, published 200 plus articles. His
webpage at www.dryahyatv.com
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About the author:
Hasan Yahya
is an American Arab scholar, and a professor of sociology. He published 25 plus
books and 220 plus articles on sociology, psychology, politics, poetry, IQ Test
Measurement and short stories in both Arabic and English. His articles may be
found on articlesbase.com, Face book and other internet sites. His recent book
published on Amazon titled: Lawlaki: Lawlaki Poetry Diwan, Zawjat lil-Bay's: Tales and
articles, 2000 Bayt Min al-Shi'r
al-Arabi and al-Zawaj wal-Jinse fil-‘Alam,. All in Arabic.(On Amazon, 2009). His recent activities
reflects his talents and knowledge on youtube’s
Dr. Yahya Channel TV under the name of askdryahya. www.hasanyahya.com
Dryahya TV Channel from USA
Vision
To reach all Arabic speakers in Europe, USA and the world over.
Activities
reports, comments, articles, and video broadcasting
Affiliation
This TV channel is only affiliated to similar channels
but not affiliated with al-Jazeerah, al-Arabiyyah or MBC.
Ownership
The shares of the dryahyatv channel is owned totally by the owner.
Contact
Videos may be seen under
askdryahya at youtube
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Updated: Sunday, 27 September 2009 12:44 PM EDT
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