By TEMILADE ENIOLA
Veteran actor, Omar Sharif of the Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago fames has pass on aged 83.
Earlier this year, his agent confirmed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
His agent Steve Kenis said: “He suffered a heart attack this afternoon in a hospital in Cairo.”
Egypt-born Sharif won two Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination for his role as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia.
He won a further Golden Globe three years later for Doctor Zhivago.
Born Michel Shalhoub in Alexandria in April 1932, Sharif started out in his family’s lumber business before going to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).
He made his screen debut in the 1954 Egyptian film Siraa Fil-Wadi (The Blazing Sun) and rapidly became a star in his own country.
His big break came when David Lean cast him in Lawrence of Arabia, introducing the actor with a now-legendary shot of him riding a camel out of a shimmering heat haze towards the camera.
