Acting legend Omar Sharif has died at the age of 83 at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, this afternoon.
The award-winning Lawrence of Arabia star suffered from a fatal heart attack, his agent said. Steve Kenis, who represented the Egyptian-born star, said: “He suffered a heart attack this afternoon in a hospital in Cairo.”
He was confirmed to have Alzheimer’s disease earlier this year after his son revealed his diagnosis to a newspaper.
Omar hasn’t been credited in an acting role since 2013, but he rose to international fame in the 1962 classic Lawrence Of Arabia – the first English-speaking film of his career.
He received two Golden Globes and an Oscar nomination for his turn as Sherif Ali in the epic adventure drama, which has since been acclaimed as one of the most influential films in history.
After that, he starred in Doctor Zhivago, which earned him another Golden Globe gong.
Omar also appeared opposite Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and as Che Guevera in Che!.
He met and married Faten Hamama, who he first co-starred with in 1954 in the film Struggle To The Valley, and was her first on-screen kiss.
He even converted to Islam to marry her, although they divorced after a long separation in 1974. He once said that he’d never fallen in love with another woman after his marriage. Faten died earlier this year.
Omar leaves behind a son, actor Tarek El-Sharif, and two grandsons, Omar and Karim.