His real name was Michel Dimetri Shalhoub. His acting career began in 1953 and his first English-language film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962), earned him his first Oscar nomination for best-supporting actor. He won a Golden Globe award for his role in Doctor Zhivago, a film that made him one of the most glamorous and desirable pin-ups for women. He achieved monumental success, appearing in a huge number of films. His roles in Funny Girl, with Barbra Streisand, and Once Upon a Time in the West with Sophia Loren, were unforgettable. Other films include The Fall of the Roman Empire and The Marvellous Adventures of Marco Polo, Mayerling and Che! Following a brief relationship with Barbra Streisand, he married Egyptian star Faten Hamama, and converted from Christianity to Islam in order to do so, changing his name to Omar El-Sharif. They were divorced in 1974. A fatwa was issued against him in 2005 for playing St Peter in an Italian TV drama. He then decided to return to live in Egypt with his only son Tarek, who revealed some time ago that his father was suffering from Alzheimer's. His agent said Omar Sharif had died of a heart attack. (AGI)