Omar Sharif, the actor known for roles in Hollywood classics like Doctor Zhivago, has died at age 83. Sharif’s agent confirmed in a statement that the legendary actor died of a heart attack on Friday in Cairo. In May, his family had announced that Sharif was suffering from Alzheimer’s. He had most recently appeared in the 2013 film Rock the Casbah, and narrated a not-yet-released short film 1001 Inventions and the World of Ibn Al-Haytham.
Egypt-born Sharif was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1963 for playing Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia, work that also won him a Golden Globe. He earned another Globe playing Yuri opposite Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago. And he was beloved as the suave Nicky Arnstein, who woos Barbra Streisand’s Fanny Brice, in Funny Girl and Funny Lady. He was so popular that in the ’90s, he had both a perfume and a brand of cigarettes named after him.
Sharif is survived by a son, Tarek, and two grandchildren. He acknowledged a second son out of wedlock in various interviews.
