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Dubai: In the history of Arab cinema, no star has shined more than Omar Sharif. In the year The legendary Egyptian actor, who gained international fame in 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”, has only grown in the public consciousness since his death in 2015. As the film world continues to search for its true successor.

One of the few actors to be dubbed ‘the next Omar Sherif’, current Egyptian star Aser Yassin knows his search is futile.

“I was always competing with him, and I was even told that I would be his replacement. I always replied, ‘There will only be one Omar Sharif’.” Yassin told Arab News.

In 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt, Michael Youssef Dimitri Chaloub, Sherif – the name he adopted as he began his film career – grew up in a multilingual family, whose parents had moved from Zahle, Lebanon, decades before his birth. He prefers not only Arabic, English and his mother’s French, but also Italian and Spanish.

‘Sheriff’ means knight and it’s easy to see why he took to the name. His mother, Claire Sada, was one of the country’s most prominent socialites, having regularly entertained King Farouk of Egypt as a young Sharif after the family moved to Cairo when he was four.

The story of how the great sheriff found his way in front of the camera proved legendary. Sharif studied mathematics and physics at Cairo University before turning to film, and although reports often include a note that he studied acting at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, there is no record of the school itself.

According to Amir Ramses, renowned Egyptian filmmaker and newly appointed director of the Cairo International Film Festival, the true story involved a bit of luck and a meeting with Egypt’s most famous filmmaker, Youssef Chahin.

“He was a really handsome young man who never dreamed of working in cinema, realized by a young and talented director, who made him star in two films (both with) Egypt’s most famous actor,” Ramses said. We.

Chahin, whose film career lasted only a few years,

The films, especially “The Blazing Sun,” proved to be a huge success, and in the 50’s Sharif was able to collaborate with Chahin again and again and quickly become a star himself. Or marry Hammam.

Ramses said: “He showed himself to be a really charismatic and talented actor, which was really miraculous.” “Most people have to work for years from the moment they know they want to make a movie before they become successful, but for him it was a stroke of luck that got him the talent. I guess that’s part of his charm.”

Luke played his part in its rise to international fame. In the year In 1962, the British director David Lean was preparing to tell the story of Lawrence of Arabia, and he asked his casting directors to bring in Arab actors, for the authenticity of the film.

Thanks to his childhood, the sheriff, who speaks good English, flies down to the desert to meet the director.

“As soon as we got into the ground, we’d see[Lynn]sitting alone,” the sheriff said years later. “We landed next to him, but he didn’t move a step. I don’t say ‘hello’ when I get off the plane. He just turned around to look at my profile. Finally: ‘Very good, Omar. “Let’s go to the tent,” he said.

The role of Sharif, a fictional courier named Sharif Ali, was an instant hit, despite the very physical demands of the job (“Lian hated actors. I was one of his favorite actors in his whole life,” the actor later said). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and won two Golden Globes (for the same role – it was the 60s, and it’s the Globes), as well as a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures. . And so Sharif spent most of the next decade in Hollywood and Europe.

Although he was instantly recognizable, Sharif was acutely aware of being an Arab in an underrepresented environment, which led him to walk behind the scenes in those early years and receive less money than he thought he deserved.

“I had to be very careful. For example, Columbia Pictures signed a five-year contract with me when I did ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, but they didn’t pay me anything,” Sharif later said.

But his gamble paid off. Sharif went on to star in popular films over the decade, including Lin’s 1965 film “Doctor Zyvigo” and the all-time popular romantic comedy “Funny Girl,” opposite Barbra Streisand in her film debut in 1968.

Since then, however, Sharif’s remarkable rise has been derailed. As his roles continue to multiply, Sharif seems to have lost his earlier knack for choosing good projects. Or he may have stopped trying to do so.

“I went 25 years without making a good film,” he said candidly years later. “I had to work all the time to support my family and myself and all my precious tastes. It got to the stage where my own grandchildren would make fun of my movies. I decided it was time to call it quits, preserve some dignity, and preserve something I was passionate about.

Towards the end of his life, it was the Arab world where he often found his strongest inspiration, with popular films such as “The Traveler”, which won Sharif a standing ovation at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival.

Famous Egyptian actor Amr Waqed – Sharif’s co-star in the film – vividly remembers their trip to Venice, he told Arab News.

“We were on the same flight to Paris. I’m telling you, there wasn’t a single person in either airport who didn’t stand up when they passed Omar Sharif,” Wake said.

In the year Lebanese filmmaker Daisy Gideon, who directed Sharif in the 1996 film Lebanon…The Imprisoned Magnificence and has maintained a close friendship with him over the years, has always been impressed not only by Sharif’s talent in front of the camera, but also by his wonderful personality. Daily life – a sign of a true star.

“He loved to act, and he found a way to express the Arab identity in a way that people had never seen,” says Gideon. “Every head in the room turned when we met over the years in the world. His presence was like no other. It was different,” he said.

Although Sharif Although he died in 2015 at the age of 83, his legacy continues to loom large in the world of cinema both regionally and internationally.

“He’s one of those undead people. His work is still with us. We all die before the job,” says Wake. “There was something shiny about it.”

Omar Sharif will be the only one. But we were lucky to even get one.