Omar Sharif a foreigner of some sort. He bridled at travel restrictions imposed by the government of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, leading to self-exile in Europe. He was a lifelong horse racing enthusiast, and at one time ranked among the world's top contract bridge players. Omar Sharif, whose adopted surname means "noble" or "nobleman", was born as Michel Dimitri Chalhoub in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Melkite Catholic family, either of Syrian or Lebanese descent: he belonged to a small ethnocultural minority known as the Levantine 'Antiochian' Greek Catholics of Egypt ("Rum Katuleek"), an offshoot of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
Michel (name) Michel (name) Michel is originally a French name. It can be both a given name and a surname ultimately of Hebrew origin, derived from , meaning "Who Is Like God?" The name is particularly common in French (from where the standard English pronunciation is derived), German (already in Middle High German), Dutch, and Afrikaans. In these instances "Michel" is equivalent to the English personal name "Michael". "Mitxel" which is also an equivalent of "Michael". When of Czech, Slovak or Polish origin it is a variant of the personal name "Michal". When of Greek origin, the surname "Michel" is a shortened