Mina Sharif Popular Books

Mina Sharif Biography & Facts

Omar Sharif (Arabic: عمر الشريف Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈʕomɑɾ eʃʃɪˈɾiːf], born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub [miˈʃel dɪˈmitɾi ʃælˈhuːb]; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is best known for his appearances in American, British, French, and Italian productions. His career encompassed over 100 films spanning 50 years, and brought him many accolades including three Golden Globe Awards and a César Award for Best Actor. Sharif played opposite Peter O'Toole as Sherif Ali in the David Lean epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and portrayed the title role in Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965), earning him the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He continued to play romantic leads, in films like Funny Girl (1968) and The Tamarind Seed (1974), and historical figures like the eponymous characters in Genghis Khan (1965), The Mamelukes (1965) and Che! (1969). His acting career continued well into old age, with a well-received turn as a Muslim Turkish immigrant in the French film Monsieur Ibrahim (2003). He made his final film appearance in 2015, the year of his death. Sharif spoke five languages: Arabic, English, French, Italian and Spanish. He bridled at travel restrictions imposed by the government of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, leading to self-exile in Europe. He was a lifelong horse racing enthusiast, and at one time ranked among the world's top contract bridge players. He was the recipient of high civil honors from multiple countries, including the Egyptian Order of Merit and the French Legion of Honour. He was one of only 25 grantees of UNESCO's Sergei Eisenstein Medal, in recognition of his significant contributions to world film and cultural diversity. Early life Sharif was born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub (Arabic: ميشيل يوسف ديمتري شلهوب ) in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt (now Republic of Egypt), to a Melkite Greek Catholic family of Syrian and Lebanese descent, making him and his family members of the Antiochian Greek Christian minority (also known as Rūm). He adopted the surname Sharif, meaning "noble" or "nobleman" in Arabic, after he was picked by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine to star in his film The Blazing Sun. He later converted to Islam and changed his name legally in order to marry Faten Hamama. His father, Yusef Chalhoub, a precious-woods merchant, moved to the port city of Alexandria with his mother in the early 20th century from Zahlé. Sharif was later born in Alexandria. His family moved to Cairo when he was four. His mother, Claire Saada, was a noted society hostess, in whose house Egypt's King Farouk was a regular visitor prior to his deposition in 1952. In his youth, Sharif studied at Victoria College, Alexandria, where he showed a talent for languages, He befriended fellow actor Ahmed Ramzy and Youssef Chahine in school. He later graduated from Cairo University with a degree in mathematics and physics. He worked for a while in his father's precious wood business before beginning his acting career in Egypt. In 1955, he adopted the stage name "Omar Sharif". He married fellow Egyptian actress Faten Hamama. It has been widely reported that Sharif studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, but the academy told Al Jazeera that this was not true. Acting career Egyptian film star Sharif began his acting career in Egypt with a role in The Blazing Sun (1954). He was also in The Devil of the Desert (1954). He quickly rose to stardom, appearing in Our Beautiful Days (1955), The Lebanese Mission (1956) (a French film), Struggle in the Pier (1956), Sleepless (1957), Land of Peace (1957), Goha (1958) (a Tunisian film that marked the debut of Claudia Cardinale), Struggle on the Nile (1958), Sayyidat al-Qasr (1958), A Beginning and an End (1960), A Rumor of Love (1960), and the Anna Karenina adaptation The River of Love by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar (1960). He and his wife co-starred in several films as romantic leads. Sharif achieved success through other movies like Struggle on the Nile (1959), A Rumor of Love (1960), and There Is a Man in Our House (1961), which made him a huge competitor to Salah Zulfikar, Shoukry Sarhan and Rushdy Abaza, the Egyptian cinema giants at the time. Lawrence of Arabia Sharif's first English-language role was that of the fictitious Sherif Ali in David Lean's historical epic Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Sharif was given the role when Dilip Kumar turned it down, Horst Buchholz proved unavailable and Maurice Ronet could not use the contact lenses necessary to hide his eyes. Casting Sharif in what is now considered one of the "most demanding supporting roles in Hollywood history" was both complex and risky as he was virtually unknown at the time outside Egypt. However, as historian Steven Charles Caton notes, Lean insisted on using ethnic actors when possible to make the film authentic.: 56  Sharif would later use his ambiguous ethnicity in other films: "I spoke French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and even Arabic", he said. As Sharif noted, his accent enabled him to "play the role of a foreigner without anyone knowing exactly where I came from", which he stated proved highly successful throughout his career.: 56  To secure the role, Sharif had to sign a seven-film contract with Columbia at $50,000 a film. Lawrence of Arabia was a box office and critical sensation. Sharif's performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, as well as a shared Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. Sharif went on to star in another Hollywood film, Anthony Mann's The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) where he played the support role of Sohaemus of Armenia. Sharif was third-billed in Columbia's Behold a Pale Horse (1964), playing a priest in the Spanish Civil War alongside Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. Director Fred Zinnemann said he chose Sharif partly on the suggestion of David Lean. "He said he was an absolutely marvellous actor, 'If you possibly can, take a look at him.'" Film historian Richard Schickel wrote that Sharif gave a "truly wonderful performance", especially noteworthy because of his totally different roles in Lawrence of Arabia: "It is hard to believe that the priest and the sheik are played by the same man". The film, like Fall of the Roman Empire, was a commercial disappointment. Sharif was one of many stars in MGM's The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), playing a Yugoslav wartime patriot; the movie was a hit. He had his first lead role in a Hollywood film when he was cast in the title part of Genghis Khan (1965). Produced by Irving Allen and directed by Henry Levin for Columbia, the $4.5 million epic was a box office disappointment. He had a supporting role in a French Marco Polo bio.... Discover the Mina Sharif popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Mina Sharif books.