Egyptian-Canadian actor, model and gay activist who currently lives in the United States. 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.
His paternal grandparents were Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama, both Egyptian screen actors; his maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Sharif is the son of an Egyptian mother, Karima Hassan “Pasha” Nashaat of Zamalek Cairo and a Muslim father, Tarek.
During his childhood, Sharif was shuttled back and forth between Montreal, Paris and Cairo. He has a B.A. from Queen’s University, a Master’s in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a degree in Performing Arts from The Lee Strasberg Institute.
Sharif acted in the 2000 Egyptian miniseries Wagh el qamar, the 2005-2006 French-language Canadian series Virginie, the 2008 Egyptian film Hassan wa Morcus and the 2016 Irish film The Secret Scripture.
As a model he was “the face of Coca-Cola for the Arabic world” and appeared in a major Calvin Klein 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 94-year-old actor Kirk Douglas.
From 2013 to 2015, he was the National Spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). 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. 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.
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, California.
Link to Wikipedia biography