Book review – “The Eternal Male” by Omar Sharif

Sharif is an interesting movie star, still the only Arab to make it big in Hollywood. He only really had three hits but since they were three of the biggest films in the 60s (and remain classics today) he made a lot of money out of it. These are his memoirs and even though I admit I rarely give much thought to Omar Sharif, this reads exactly like you’d imagine – suave, prone to waffling when justifying his womanising, egotistical but self aware, a nice line in humour and charm, old fashioned values (not a big fan of democracy in the Arab world, a woman’s place is in the home, etc) but aware they’re old fashioned.

You need movie stars like Omar Sharif, who are citizens of the world, represent Egypt in bridge at the Olympics, appear in silly projects for the money, devote their spare time to money-wasting hobbies like horse breeding and gambling, who sleep with heaps of women.

Sharif says he doesn’t want a kiss and tell memoir but then goes to write at length about his flings with Barbra Streisand and Anouk Aimee, as well as the Egyptian star who became his wife. Sharif had a blessed run in many ways – son of a rich timber merchant he developed an enthusiasm for acting, became a star in his first film due to his looks and marrying his co-star (a big name at the time), spotted by an agent for David Lean, having Lawrence of Arabia as his first Hollywood film. (How bad do you feel for poor Maurice Ronet, cast in the role but substituted, partly because his eyes were the same colour as Peter O’Toole's?).

The book is light on anecdotes. It starts with a great one, which has him, Peter O’Toole and Lenny Bruce in gaol the night he arrived in Hollywood for the Lawrence premiere (they went to see Bruce in concert then later on Bruce shot up). It’s a shame there aren’t more like this – he talks of roistering with O’Toole on “leave” in Beirut during filming, but the details are sketchy.

I would also have liked to hear a bit more about the films, because we get tantalising glimpses: Zanuck and Fleischer pursued him ferociously to play Che Guevera, he loved being in The Horsemen, his casting in Funny Girl partly came about because of a joke (they’d ask “Why not Omar Sharif” as a joke until eventually deciding to give it a go). It’s also interesting to read about a man who was Christian in Egypt, then converted to Islam, and got in trouble for kissing known Israel supporter Streisand in Funny Girl. It goes up to 1977 but he skims over his 70s movies.

Still, I enjoyed the book; it is light brisk reading and Sharif is entertaining company on the page.