After 40 years of performing his role in the film Lawrence of Arabia through which the Egyptian international actor, Omar al Sherif, gained fame, the star is not sure whether his role was a boon or bane.
“Continuous movement from one place to another destroyed my happy marriage life and transformed me into a homeless person in Hollywood who has no roots,” Sherif told the press.
He added, “if the past had come back I would not have played my role in Lawrence of Arabia.”
Among the most prominent roles which the handsome and the bridge- experienced actor still remembers is his role in Lawrence of Arabia in which he costarred along with Peter Otool and through which he was nominated for the Oscar prize.
Sherif became the only Arab actor who entered the limelight in Hollywood. But after he has performed in more than 50 films since 1954 the activity of the renowned actor has extremely shrunk over the past few years. He spends his time between Cairo and Paris.
Lawrence of Arabia put Omar al Sherif in the world of stars who were nominated for playing in the best films in the history of international movies including Dr. Jivago, Mayorling and Funny Girl. After playing his roles in these films, Sherif was dubbed as Don Juan.
But life in Hollywood was not shining all the time. In 1968 the Egyptian media described Sherif as betrayer for playing the starring role in the film Funny Girl which was banned in Egypt along with the Jewish actress Barbara Straisand.
Sherif and his family stayed outside Egypt for 13 years and returned home only after he had been asked by the late Egyptian president Anwar al Sadat who signed the first peace agreement with Israel in 1979 -- Albawaba.com
