Omar Sharif, a Star in ‘Dr. Zhivago,’ Dies at 83...

[Zim Hosein]

Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the sands of the Sahara in the 1962 screen epic “Lawrence of Arabia” into a glamorous, if brief, reign as an international star in films like “Dr. Zhivago” and “The Night of the Generals,” has died in a Cairo hospital. He was 83.

The cause was a heart attack, his agent, Steve Kenis, said.

Mr. Sharif was a commanding presence on screen. He was multilingual as well, and comfortable in almost any role or cultural setting. “My philosophy of life is that I’m living every moment intensely, as if it were the last moment,” he said in an interview with The New York Times in 2003. “I don’t think of what I did before or what I’m going to do. I think of what I’m doing right now.”

Mr. Sharif had acted in a number of Egyptian films before he was added to the cast of “Lawrence of Arabia” by the director David Lean. A freewheeling depiction of the real-life exploits of the British adventurer T.E. Lawrence, who led Arab fighters in a series of battles against Turkish occupiers, the film starred Peter O’Toole in the title role. Mr. Sharif played the Arab warrior Sherif Ali, who joins forces with Lawrence, and the scene depicting his arrival is widely regarded as a classic piece of cinematic art. He appears as a tiny speck slowly approaching across the sun-baked desert and gradually materializez into a figure riding a camel. Mr. Sharif’s performance, in his first English-language film, brought him an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor.

Omar Sharif, a Star in ‘Dr. Zhivago,’ Dies at 83.

R. I. P. Omar Sharif! 🙁 :rose;

 

[manimal]

amazing actor spanning generations.


He was cooler than the dos equis guy any day of the week.


Dude was banging princesses when he was 15. Let me qualify by saying that the princesses were in their 20s and 30 and not pedo

 

[CraKaJaX]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2438887

 

[qliveur]

I'll always remember him as Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia.

He was a terrific actor. RIP. 🙁

To anyone who hasn't seen the three films in the OP: do yourself a favor and watch them.

 

[stargazr]

Great actor. My grandparents loved Dr. Zhivago, and watched it every time it was on TV. RIP

 

[WaTaGuMp]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2438887

Yeah bitches, I wad first, just because I through in Ed Farty, dont mean ya have to hate. 🙁