CAIRO - Egypt's cinematic icon Omar Sharif, known to his Western audience as Doctor Zhivago and a handful of other characters he played in Hollywood blockbusters, is suffering from Alzheimer's, Al Arabiya reported, citing Spanish media. Tarek El Sharif told Spanish newspaper El Mundo that his father, who skyrocketed to fame in 1962 following his supporting role in “Lawrence of Arabia,” has been suffering the disease for the past three years. “My father has Alzheimer's. It's difficult to determine what stage it's at. It's obvious he'll never improve and it will get worse,” he told the Spanish daily. The 82-year-old actor – and renowned bridge player – is aware of who he is, but when fans approach him he has a hard time understanding why. “He knows who he is but not necessarily the reason people greet him. When someone seems him in the street and approaches him, he often thinks it's someone he used to know whose name and face he's forgotten when most of the time it's just a fan,” Tarek said. The disease has even forced the star to reminisce about Tarek's mother, Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, for whom Sharif converted to Islam to be able to marry her. He asks about her, forgetting that she passed away in January. Although they divorced in 1974, Sharif maintained that Hamama was the love of his life. The star never remarried. - Agencies
