Acting legend Omar Sharif, who died today at age 83, had deep ties to Montreal where he spent considerable time visiting his son Tarek Omar.
Omar Sharif was married to Faten Hamama, a top film star in Egypt. The two divorced in 1972 but their son Tarek Omar came to Montreal to study and ended up living in Montreal with his wife Debbie Waitzer of Chomedey Laval.
Omar Sharif's longest stint in Montreal was a three month stay in 1979 when filming Oh! Heavenly Dog. The then-47-year-old movie star spent a lot of time in discos on that visit: Oz, Le Prive, 1234 and Yesterdays and he valued his privacy while drinking alone at the Chateau Versailles Hotel on Sherbrooke and St. Matthew.
On the same visit he was reportedly barred from Blue Bonnets after losing patience with a clerk who was too slow to register his complicated bet.
He returned in June, 1981 for his son's wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel (managed by his pal Antoine Corinthios) and also spent time in Montreal in 1983 as his grandchild Omar Jr., aka Omie, was born at St. Mary's Hospital in December. His parents Debbie and Tarek split up within three years of his birth.
Tarek Omar Sharif - who was a regular in Bishop street bars alongside Nick Auf der Maur and others - remarried in 1989 to Vancouver stock broker Martina Navratilova, no relation to the tennis star of the same name, of course. They split in early 1996.
The best Omar-Sharif-in-Montreal story took place in May 1996 when PQ MNA Andre Boulerice showed what he believed was a case of fake names on his voters list, as Omar Sharif and Martina Navratilova were living on Common street in Old Montreal. It seemed impossible but it turned out to be legit.
As for Tarek's son Omar Sharif Jr., he is now 31 and living in Los Angeles and pronounces himself gay and Jewish (his mother Debbie's religion).
Omar Sharif also had a brother in Toronto, who I spoke to a few years ago.
Omar Sharif's longest stint in Montreal was a three month stay in 1979 when filming Oh! Heavenly Dog. The then-47-year-old movie star spent a lot of time in discos on that visit: Oz, Le Prive, 1234 and Yesterdays and he valued his privacy while drinking alone at the Chateau Versailles Hotel on Sherbrooke and St. Matthew.
On the same visit he was reportedly barred from Blue Bonnets after losing patience with a clerk who was too slow to register his complicated bet.
He returned in June, 1981 for his son's wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel (managed by his pal Antoine Corinthios) and also spent time in Montreal in 1983 as his grandchild Omar Jr., aka Omie, was born at St. Mary's Hospital in December. His parents Debbie and Tarek split up within three years of his birth.
Tarek Omar Sharif - who was a regular in Bishop street bars alongside Nick Auf der Maur and others - remarried in 1989 to Vancouver stock broker Martina Navratilova, no relation to the tennis star of the same name, of course. They split in early 1996. |
| Tarek and Omar in 2001 |
As for Tarek's son Omar Sharif Jr., he is now 31 and living in Los Angeles and pronounces himself gay and Jewish (his mother Debbie's religion).
Omar Sharif also had a brother in Toronto, who I spoke to a few years ago.
that's probably when i saw him downtown, when he was filming o heavenly dog. It was near Crescent or Bishop st.
ReplyDeleteI dated a girl named Billie/Billy in the early eighties who claimed her mother "dated" Omar when he was in town.
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