The Films of Omar Sharif (1932-2015)
The 70 millimeter film looks a mile wide and a hundred miles deep. All the way at the back, you see a cloud of dust between the desert and the sky. Where there’s dust, there’s a camel. Where there’s a camel, there’s a man. He isn’t even a speck on the horizon, but you know he’s there, and you know you’re dead.
The man who was cast for this most dramatic on-screen intro was Omar Sharif, and he died today, July 10, 2015. He passed away in Egypt, where he had been born 83 years earlier. When Sharif was growing up, Egypt was still a protectorate full of British soldiers and would-be Lawrences. Even as Egyptian nationalists were redefining their nation’s identity – they won full sovereignty from England in 1952 and weathered an Anglo-French-Israeli invasion in 1956 – Sharif was finding his. He started acting in Egyptian films, converted from Eastern Catholicism to Islam, and moved to London to study drama. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was his introduction to the English-speaking world.
His intro alone showed him to be a powerful actor, but his far-seeing eyes and apparently effortless charm made him something even more marketable: a leading man. He rejoined Lawrence director David Lean for 1965’s Doctor Zhivago, in which he played a well-off Russian, and in 1968’s Funny Girl he played a Jewish American con artist. His later career spanned everything from ensemble films (1974’s Juggernaut) to small, festival fare (2013’s Rock the Casbah.) He also played a mean game of bridge.
The best way to celebrate Sharif’s life is probably to demand a 70mm screening of Lawrence of Arabia at your local classic theater. After that, though, consider exploring his diverse body of work more deeply. According to Flickchart users, these are the ten best films starring Omar Sharif:
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Global ranking #146
- Wins 53% of matchups
2. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
- Global ranking #642
- Wins 38% of matchups
3. Funny Girl (1968)
- Global ranking #2134
- Wins 45% of matchups
4. The 13th Warrior (1999)
- Global ranking #3047
- Wins 30% of matchups
5. Hidalgo (2004)
- Global ranking #4221
- Wins 30% of matchups
6. Juggernaut (1974)
- Global ranking #6179
- Wins 41% of matchups
7. Funny Lady (1975)
- Global ranking #6522
- Wins 32% of matchups
8. Oh, Heavenly Dog! (1980)
- Global ranking #10173
- Wins 33% of matchups
9. Mackenna’s Gold (1969)
- Global ranking #10196
- Wins 41% of matchups
10. More than a Miracle (1967)
- Global ranking #12504
- Wins 38% of matchups
Loved him in Funny Girl.