He was 83
Loved him in Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago. Reportedly, in his later years he turned away from acting because he was being given inferior roles. He was supposed to have said this after he appeared in The 13th warrior, which I thought was a pretty good and pro-Arab role. If I was going to complain about inferior roles, I’d have complained about Top Secret!, myself (good movie, but I thought Sharif underused and abused in it.)
Sorry to see him gone.
RIP. Another of the greats passes.
Where will I go for advice on bridge now?
Another of my mom’s big crushes. I remember her dragging me along to see Dr Zhivago when I was in sixth grade (and was poorly equipped to appreciate it)—she hated going to the movies alone.
I gotta admit, even I thought that in addition to being a great actor, he was one helluva good-looking man. I should be so swavey and deboner!
RIP. 
I had no idea he was still alive. I think I must have been confusing him with Oliver Reed, maybe.
Bummer, another icon gone. I’m sure though we will now have many new showings scheduled of Zhivago and LoA with which to re-appreciate how easy he was able to perfectly assume these wonderful, captivating roles. I even enjoyed him in MacKenna’s Gold, a break in character from the other two.
Remember, it was by the same guys who did Airplane!, and part of what made that work was getting actors to do deadpan versions of the same sorts of characters they’d played seriously before. Leslie Nielsen got a whole new career out of it. But not every serious actor is cut out for that sort of thing, and of the ones that were, they’d already used a bunch of them in Airplane!.
Top Secret was good, and Sharif was underused in it, but I wouldn’t call it an inferior role.
Too bad. He was an iconic actor. He was great in Dr. Zhivago, and he didn’t even have to play a middle-eastern or other ‘exotic’ character.
“Driver, this isn’t the way to the Howard Johnson’s.”
I was overjoyed to see someone of his stature doing silly comedy; really upped my respect level for the man.
Plus, he wasn’t “Hollywood,” he just gambled what he could afford and played bridge.
You want an inferior role? MY mother dragged me to “Bloodline.”
I win the pitty party!
RIP Mr. Sharif
Ah, the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where he walked out of the desert glare and we first saw him standing gloriously in his robes–a real panty dropper, I tell you!
Memorable – I even remember him from The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and that was just a bit part.
I admit to having a man-crush on the guy after Dr. Zhivago and Funny Girl.
I know perfectly well about the Zuckers and Abrahams – I followed their stuff ever since Kentucky Fried Movie. But Sharif’s part, though it had its moments, seemed particularly underused and more than normally undignified. My point wasn’t that I thought Top Secret! particularly bad, but that it wasn’t this movie (or one of his other sub-par parts) that inspired him to swear off movies for a time, but the comparatively good and positive role in The 13th Warrior.
Have you seen his filmography:
He has 117 acting credits–right up to this year. But I also only remember him from roles from decades ago–and very few of these recent movies, TV miniseries… are familiar to me.
I was just a little girl when I first saw Lawrence of Arabia. But I developed my first ever celebrity crush on Omar. What a strikingly handsome man he was. And so different than anyone I knew in my little corner of the Midwest.
I will have to watch Dr. Zhivago this weekend to send you off in style.
[/Barbra Streisand] Gawjus! [Barbra Streisand]
The man had presence! Even opposite performers like Sophia “Oh-My-God-What-A-Gorgeous-Woman!” Loren, the eye naturally fell on him and stayed there. 
RIP Mr. Sharif. Thank you especially for Funny Girl. His character was a loser but you could understand why she fell in love with him and found it hard to walk away.
Here’s a song inspired by him (the actor, not that character).
Well, at least they didn’t kill the deputy.
Has anyone here seen any of his Egyptian films? I understand he was a big star there before he started making English-language movies.