--- ---  # How Omar Sharif Rose to Fame  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 3:43 PM UTC  Omar Sharif in 'Lawrence of Arabia' Omar Sharif in 'Lawrence of Arabia'Mondadori / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 3:43 PM UTC Actor Omar Sharif, [who has died at 83](http://time.com/3952796/omar-sharif-dead/), first made major international waves with his role in _Lawrence of Arabia_, released in late 1962\. But, as TIME noted in an early 1963 profile of the breakout actor, he was already a star in his homeland. Sharif, born Maechel Shalhoub (per TIME’s 1963 spelling), was the son of a wealthy Egyptian lumber magnate but he knew he wanted more than a life of timber. He took on the name Omar Sharif calculating that English-speaking audiences were already familiar with the name _Omar_—both Omar Khayyam and Omar Bradley were well known—and that _Sharif_ would carry just the right amount of exotic allure to attract Western audiences. But, though he had his sights set on Hollywood, his big break came at home: --- > “” --- In the end, she did more than that. She married him—a union that lasted about two decades—and he became just as famous as she was. (The fateful kiss also helped usher in a new standard of propriety for Egyptian film, in which kissing was more common.) And, by TIME’s reckoning, it should have been no surprise that Hamama chose him. “Women who have seen the picture \[_Lawrence of Arabia_\] say that they go away thinking about the fine performances of O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins and so on,” TIME noted, “but at night they dream about Omar Sharif.” **_Read the full story from 1963, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Arabian Knight](http://time.com/vault/issue/1963-02-01/page/90/) ### Take A Look Back At Some of Omar Sharif's Most Memorable Roles  Omar Sharif stars as Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia, 1962. Columbia Pictures/Getty Images  Omar Sharif plays the titular role of Gengis Khan in Gengis Khan, 1965. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Omar Sharif stars as Doctor Yuri Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago, 1965. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Omar Sharif as Prince Rodrigo Fernandez on the set of the movie More Than a Miracle, 1967. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Omar Sharif and Barbra Streisand star in the romantic comedy Funny Girl, 1968. Mondadori/Getty Images  Omar Sharif stars as Crown Prince Rudolf in Mayerling, 1968. Mondadori/Getty Images  Omar Sharif stars as Che Guevara in Che!, 1969. Mondadori/Getty Images  Omar Sharif and Julie Andrews starred together in the romantic drama The Tamarind Seed, 1974. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  James Coburn, left, and Omar Sharif starred together in The Baltimore Bullet, 1980. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Omar Sharif, right, plays Melchisidek in The 13th Warrior, 1999. 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