He is best known for his appearances in American, British, French, and Italian productions, and has been described as "the first Egyptian and Arab to conquer Hollywood ". He continued to play romantic leads, in films like Funny Girl and The Tamarind Seed , and historical figures like the eponymous characters in Genghis Khan , The Mamelukes and Che! His acting career continued well into old age, with a well-received turn as a Muslim Turkish immigrant in the French film Monsieur Ibrahim He made his final film appearance in , the year of his death.
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 later converted to Islam and changed his name legally in order to marry Faten Hamama. 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. In , he adopted the stage name "Omar Sharif". It has been widely reported that Sharif studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, [ 27 ] [ 28 ] but the academy told Al Jazeera that this was not true. Sharif began his acting career in Egypt with a role in The Blazing Sun He was also in The Devil of the Desert He and his wife co-starred in several films as romantic leads.
Sharif's first English-language role was that of the fictitious Sherif Ali in David Lean 's historical epic Lawrence of Arabia in 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. Lawrence of Arabia was a box office and critical sensation. He had his first lead role in a Hollywood film when he was cast in the title part of Genghis Khan Film historian Constantine Santas explained that Lean intended the film to be a poetic portrayal of the period, with large vistas of landscapes combined with a powerful score by Maurice Jarre.
