Omar Sharif laid to rest in Cairo

The funeral of Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, who died on Friday at the age of 83 following a heart attack, has been held in Cairo.

Sharif rose to international fame with his roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Among those attending the service were fellow actor Hussein Fahmy and former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawas, a close friend of the star.

Egypt-born Sharif won two Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination for his role as Sherif Ali in David Lean’s 1962 epic, Lawrence of Arabia. He won a further Golden Globe three years later for Doctor Zhivago.

Many local actors attended the funeral at the Hussein Tantawi Mosque in an eastern neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital, among them Egyptian actor Gamil Rateb and film star Khaled Nabawy. When news broke of his death on Friday, stars from around the world paid tribute to Sharif, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease earlier this year.