One of classic Hollywood's few remaining actors has passed away after a long battle with memory loss in his later years, as close family members announce that Omar Sharif's dead at 83 years of age, after having starred in some of the most iconic films in history, such as David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago."
Among the biggest movie actors in the 1990s, having starred with the likes of Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield and Julie Christie, now Omar Sharif's dead after suffering from a heart attack, having been admitted in a hospital in his native city of Cairo, Egypt.
According to Yahoo! News, news that Omar Sharif's dead came from the actor's longtime agent, only a few months after it had been announced that the "Funny Girl" star had been suffering from Alzheimer's in recent years, though it was a heart attack that took his life.
In 1962, Sharif received worldwide fame from his role in David Lean's epic "Lawrence of Arabia" with Peter O'Toole in the title character, later cementing his presence as an on-screen star in films like Lean's "Doctor Zhivago," turning into the first Arab Hollywood star, a historic landmark many now remember now that Omar Sharif's dead.
In its obituary following news that Omar Sharif's dead, Al Jazeera remembers how the actor first began in Egyptian films before heading off to Hollywood, starring in 1954 with legendary Middle East star Faten Hamama in "The Blazing Sun," an actress he later married after even converting to her religion, as the actor, though Egyptian, came from a Lebanese Roman Catholic family.
According to BBC, Sharif's birth name was Michel Shalhoub, and he became famous as one of Hollywood's primary leading men, also starring alongside major stars like Julie Andrews - though it was often his personal life making news, from his affair with Barbra Streisand to his problems with gambling.
In any case, a true Hollywood legend has left the world now that Omar Sharif's dead.
