Omar Sharif’s funeral has been held at the Hussein Tantawi Mosque in Cairo.

The Egyptian actor died in a Cairo hospital on July 10 following a heart attack. He was 83.

Among those attending the service were fellow actor Hussein Fahmy and former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawas, a close friend of Omar Sharif.

Hussein Fahmy hailed Omar Sharif as “a man who loved Egypt and represented the Egyptian art in its best form.”

“Somebody that we’re going to miss for a very long time,” he added.

Photo AFP

Omar 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.

Zahi Hawas, a prominent archaeologist, said he had “lost a close friend” while “the world lost a great actor”.

“As a movie star, he will not be repeated again. He was unique,” he said.

Many local actors attended the funeral at the Hussein Tantawi Mosque in an eastern neighborhood of Cairo, among them Egyptian actor Gamil Rateb and film star Khaled Nabawy.