Menasha director recalls Omar Sharif

Earlier this summer we lost yet another screen legend, Omar Sharif. I had the pleasure of working with him in 2004 and to commemorate his passing I put a picture of us together up on Facebook. Since that posting many have asked, “What was Omar Sharif like to work with? What was he like as a person?” I'd like to take a moment and share some of my intimate memories of meeting and working with this gifted and generous man.

The first time I saw Omar Sharif was in "Doctor Zhivago," at the Grand Theater in Wausau, a classically designed theater with thick red velvet curtains and ornate columns framing the big screen. Sharif was larger than life as Yuri Zhivago, caught up in the throes of the Russian Revolution. With his hauntingly deep eyes, sensitive persona and soul of a poet, he completed a love triangle with Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin.

Something about that film brought me back to the Grand over and over again. I don't know what it was, but probably everything: the story, the cinematography, the music, the pageantry and scope and the brilliant direction of David Lean. Most of all, it was the compelling performance of a relatively young Egyptian actor, Omar Sharif. Seeing me for perhaps the fifth or sixth time, the theater manager said, “Oh, it’s you again. Go on in.”

To say the film had a profound effect on me would be an understatement. Around the same time I saw a special on ABC-TV, "The Making of Doctor Zhivago." An intimate look behind the scenes. In an instant I knew what I wanted to become — a film director. I was 12.

Never in a million years did I dream that one day Omar Sharif would be in a film I was directing, much less a wide screen epic.

It all began when I started preparations in 2004 to direct "One Night with the King," a feature film based on the Biblical Book of Esther (2006, released by Gener8Xion Entertainment and on DVD by 20th Century Fox). Even a casual reading of the Old Testament book reveals countless names of characters, one being Memucan, (sometimes Memukan) who shows up pretty early in the story as a powerful adviser to the King. I cannot speak for all directors, but the sooner I can put a face to a scripted character, the better.

I was already having great success casting the likes of John Rhys-Davies and John Noble in the film, both recently of "Lord of the Rings," and others, when producer Larry Mortorff passed by my Los Angeles office one day and suggested, "How would you like it if I got you Omar Sharif?" I was stunned. It took me some time to steady myself. Are you kidding me? There's only one answer to that question.

As a director I personally feel much more comfortable working with screen legends. Often with the newest, latest, up-and-coming actors, their talent hasn't really been fully tested or gauged. And some are prone to tantrums. With screen legends you benefit not only from their talent, maturity, screen persona and what they can bring to a role, but as well you are the beneficiary of all the other great directors before you who have worked with them, who honed them. Working with accomplished actors makes you a better director.

When we finally secured Omar Sharif we learned that he shared the same manager as his "Lawrence of Arabia" co-star Peter O'Toole. So we made a deal for him as well!  The only regret I have about anything was that although they would again be in a film together, they had no scenes in common. And due to our spread out 3-4 month shooting schedule, they wouldn’t even be on location together. Two ships passing in the night.

Several months and 22 hours of plane rides later I found myself in India for the long haul, getting ready to start shooting. Our locations were throughout the hazy, arid province of Rajasthan, not that far from the Pakistani border. Perfect for a Bible epic. Our main location, as well as our offices, were set up in the magnificent Umaid Bhawan Palace, a structure of such proportion and intricate work that it might even stretch the definition of the word “palace.” Originally the home of the area royal family, by the time we got there in 2004, the heirs, still quite noble and gracious, were off in just one tiny 99-room wing, leaving the rest of the place to us.

The excitement grew as the first call came in from Omar in Paris, his residence at the time, with questions about travel and other matters. My production manager handled all the details, but then, about to hang up, Omar’s capable assistant asked if there was anything they could bring for anyone. Here I was in the middle of India and casually blurted out, “Yeah, foie gras.” (Foie gras is, of course, duck liver, a French delicacy. Quite in contrast to the curries and masalas of Rajasthan.)

One week later I walked into my suite to be greeted by a magnificent gift basket: a rich display of tins of foie gras, various pâtés, crackers, wines and other delicacies from France with a card: “To my Director, from Mr. Omar Sharif.”  The basket even included a can opener, in case I was too far from civilization!

Within a day or so we arranged our first meeting in my office. It would be standard enough. He would consult with me on his character and appearance and I would answer any questions he might have. As a courtesy, and to promote open discussion of just about any concern he might have, I arranged for us to meet alone. So I sat in my office until I sensed someone walk in.

There he was, Mr. Omar Sharif, walking toward me, resplendent in all black: pants, shirt open at the collar and sport coat. Accenting his striking look was a silver belt and his thick silver hair. We exchanged what we found exciting about the script and his character, as well as the location, the setting, and the theme of the film. I had no idea beforehand that Mr. Sharif, a lifelong pacifist, would be so ideally suited for his role of the biblical character of Memucan. A calm voice in a King’s court, one otherwise well stocked with hawks and promoters of war. Not that I haven’t directed other great actors to play something they weren’t in their personal lives, I believe this alignment of personal beliefs informed and infused passion into his performance. In actual history, the titular character of “One Night with the King,” Xerxes, would later ignore Prince Memucan’s counsel and launch on into battle with his armies, only to face a terrible and humiliating defeat. Also, as fate would have it, Mr. Sharif’s character was very sympathetic to the times in which we filmed, the beginning of the second Gulf War. (Not that my film was an antiwar film. Impending war — with Greece — was more the backdrop.)

As Mr. Sharif left my office after that first visit, I almost let him go. But at the last second I was not the Hollywood director he just met, but the boy back in the theater. I blurted out, “Mr. Sharif, you are the reason I’m sitting here today, doing what I’m doing.” He smiled graciously and nodded his head in approval. Beautiful man.

At no time were his sentiments more clearly articulated than during the evening meal. Omar’s contract stipulated that he receive a $300 cash per diem each day. Which he then took immediately down to the kitchen in the Palace and handed over to a chef with the admonition, “Make me a fabulous dinner!” The chef would welcome this challenge and go to the local markets and buy the freshest and most desirable ingredients. Each night there would be a feast. I along with many of the actors on the film, and often some complete strangers touring India he met that day, would gather at Omar's table and dine on the delicacies of the day. To me, being included at this table was one of the highest personal privileges I’ve ever enjoyed, capped by the day he said to me, “Michael, you're always welcome at my table.”

It didn’t end there. Like clockwork, each evening the discussion would evolve into politics and become very heated. Opinions flew and, on at least one occasion, so did fists. It was so exhilarating being with an international cast, an international crew from several continents, all at the top of their professions, debating the topics of the day while dining alfresco on the portico of the palace. And then, just as with the finale to a great fireworks show, words and ideas exploding all around us, Omar would look at me across the table, smiling that famous gap-toothed smile, and say, “I just want world peace.”

And he did. It was on one of those Indian evenings just after sunset, when things begin to cool down, that Omar turned to me and revealed how he had personally called Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and had his "Funny Girl" and "Funny Lady" costar Barbra Streisand call Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to set up what would become the Camp David Peace Accord (1978), brokered by President Jimmy Carter. Although Sadat and Begin were to share in the Nobel Peace Prize that year, in my heart I believe part of it belongs to the man who was the catalyst.

I couldn't always make his table due to the demands of my directorial duties. Often we spent long weeks shooting at night (or half days/half nights, known as "splits") and I could not join in the nightly feast or the discussion. Apparently, neither could I escape the honor. On one particularly memorable night, when I realized I wasn't just in India to hang out with famous movie stars and had a job to do, I was walking to my room — sneaking really — totally exhausted and I purposefully took a wide path around Omar's table on the veranda. Thinking I'd almost escaped his gaze I heard that remarkable, unique voice, calling out to me. "Michael, Michael. Come here. I have just discovered the most amazing Chauteunuef du Pape!"

Most of all, I remember the hours and hours we spent working together and how during camera or lighting setups I'd pick his brain on how he was directed by master British director David Lean, the creative force behind "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dr. Zhivago," "Bridge on the River Kwai," "Passage to India" and many others. I asked him about virtually every shot he was ever in and what Sir David said to him. What were his directions? What did he say to you?  And Omar would become animated and with virtually 100 percent recall explain exactly what Lean had told him. (For those in the business, I was surprised that David Lean’s direction was occasionally more mechanical than “method.” Even then, of course, he was brilliant.) He could go on for hours and I absorbed every word.

And in doing so, Omar Sharif took me back to those moments when I was 12 years old, sitting in the dark staring up at the big screen at the Grand Theater in Wausau, watching the movie that made me want to make movies.

Omar Sharif passed away due to a heart attack in Cairo, Egypt on July 10. It was also recently revealed that he was suffering from complications brought on by Alzheimer's.

—Movie writer-director Michael Sajbel divides his time between living in Menasha and working in Hollywood. He recently published a Kindle book titled, “December 1974” and is presently raising funds to make a film in Neenah.