Omar Sharif Jr. (born 28 November 1983) is a Canadian actor, model, author and gay activist who currently lives in the United States.

Early life

Sharif is the son of a Jewish Canadian mother, Debbie, and an Egyptian father, Tarek Sharif. His paternal grandparents were

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...

and Faten Hamama, both Egyptian actors; his maternal grandparents were Jewish Holocaust survivors. During his childhood, Sharif was shuttled back and forth among Montreal, Paris, and Cairo. He has a B.A. from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, a Master's in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a degree in Performing Arts from The Lee Strasberg Institute.

Career

Sharif has worked as an actor, appearing in the 2000 Egyptian miniseries ''Wagh el qamar'', the 2005-6 French-language Canadian series '' Virginie'', the 2008 Egyptian film ''Hassan wa Morcus'' and the 2016 Irish film '' The Secret Scripture''. When he became an actor, his grandfather said to him: “I gave you my name, I gave you my looks. I'm not going to give you anything else. You have to do it entirely on your own.” He appeared in the 2017 short film ''11th Hour'', which was selected for screening at the TriBeCa Film Festival. He has also worked as a model: He was “the face of Coca-Cola for the Arabic world and appeared in a major

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

print campaign in Egypt.” He was a presenter at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards in 2011, during which he performed a memorable comedic sketch with

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

Activism

In 2012, Sharif came out as gay in ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'', a gay newsmagazine. Noting that the recent parliamentary elections in Egypt had “dealt secularists a particularly devastating blow,” he stated that the vision of “a freer, more equal Egypt — a vision that many young patriots gave their lives to see realized in Tahrir Square — has been hijacked.” He is said to be “the first public personality to ever come out as openly gay in the Arab World.” His announcement led to widespread criticism and threats of violence. From 2013 to 2015, he was the National Spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). In May 2015, he was hired to handle community affairs by New York developer Ian Reisner. In an August 2015 interview, Sharif said that his recently deceased grandfather, Omar Sharif, had been aware of his homosexuality and had never had a problem with it, though his mother did; she told him "Don't tell your grandmother, this would kill her." He responded, "She survived Auschwitz but this would kill her?" He also said he hoped to change Egyptian attitudes toward gay people. “I’m a son, I’m a brother, I’m a coworker, I’m a friend,” he said. “I’m not a fact, or a figure, or a statistic. I’m not a moral or an ethical debate.” Sharif gave a speech at the 2016 Oslo Freedom Forum discussing his coming out story during Arab Spring and admitting to suicidal thoughts. After the

Sultan of Brunei The sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...

passed a law to stone homosexual people in April 2019, Sharif Jr. challenged him a few days later. If the Sultan would execute his own homosexual son, Sharif Jr. would execute himself as well.

Personal life

As of 2012 he was living in Cairo, however shortly thereafter, uneasy about the “new Egypt,” he left the country. He now resides in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Television

Film

Bibliography

* A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring (October 5, 2021),

Honors and awards

He was honored as one of the “Out 100” in 2012,” The Advocate's "40 Under 40" in 2014 and 2015, and won Attitude Magazine's 'Inspiration Award' in 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif, Omar, Jr. 1983 births Living people Activists from Montreal Alumni of the London School of Economics Queen's University at Kingston alumni Canadian activists Canadian male film actors Canadian male models Canadian male television actors Egyptian Jews Egyptian activists Egyptian male film actors Egyptian male models Egyptian male television actors Canadian expatriates in England Canadian gay actors Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish male models Jews from Quebec Gay Jews Gay Muslims Gay models Canadian gay writers Egyptian LGBT rights activists Egyptian LGBT actors Canadian LGBT rights activists Male actors from Montreal Models from Montreal Yiddish-speaking people Canadian people of Israeli descent Egyptian people of Israeli descent 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Egyptian male actors 21st-century Canadian LGBT people