He won international fame and an Oscar-nomination for best supporting actor for his role in the 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia” with Peter O’Toole.
Born as Michel Shalhoub on April 10, 1932, to a wealthy family in Alexandria, Egypt, Sharif grew interested in acting while studying mathematics and physics at a university in Cairo.Raised as a Roman Catholic, Sharif converted to Islam and married Hamama in 1955, taking on his new name. They had a son, Tarek, who played Yuri in “Doctor Zhivago” at age 8, but the couple divorced in 1974.Despite Sharif’s image as a sex symbol and eligible bachelor, he did not remarry, saying he never fell in love with another woman.


