These horrifying moments don't pepper the whole text. 'I felt trapped in a body I couldn't control.' I couldn't say no, so I shouldn't have been able to say yes, either,' Sharif writes.

The most devastating portions surface when Sharif reveals a wealthy sheikh in the Gulf Cooperation Council – the economic union of countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and more – for whom he was working at the time, raped him. That's probably how I got this–' she said, referencing her cancer (they ultimately reconciled). He also details his mother's poor initial reaction to his coming out: 'Don't tell your father! Don't tell anyone! God help if your father or the rest of Egypt finds out. We learn about his mother's breast cancer, death of his baby sister and the history of his Holocaust survivor grandparents, as well as his many traumatic experiences with gay men – including a closeted man who once implied he would shoot Sharif if he outed him. He once eviscerated him at a dinner in front of complete strangers: 'You want to be something, but you are never going to be anything like I was because you will always be a failure!' Some of its most heartbreaking moments feature the elder Sharif in Alzheimer's-induced confused states, treating the grandson he loves horribly. The organization Human Rights Watch says LGBT people were still being detained in inhumane conditions and tortured in Egypt as of October 2020.īut the book, as the title suggests, tries to tell the tale of two Omars. The late Sharif, who died in 2015, was almost banned following his affair with 'Funny Girl' co-star Barbra Streisand during the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel. Nonetheless, court cases were filed aiming to revoke his Egyptian citizenship and ban him from the country – another way he and his grandfather are alike. In case you missed: How three Jewish and Arab families swapped kidneys, saved their mothers and made history The letter was met with ridicule internationally – especially in Egypt and from his own father, who told him he basically gave up everything by coming out and disclosing he was Jewish. Despite the vitriol, he received an outpouring of support from LGBTQ people who finally felt seen. 'I write this article because I am not unique in Egypt and because many will suffer if a basic respect for fundamental human rights and equality is not embraced by Egypt's new government,' the letter reads. 'Nearly three months went by before I published it, and still I really struggled.' Writing the letter 'took time, thought and reflection,' he writes. Sharif Jr. is perhaps best known for coming out in a personal essay for LGBTQ outlet ' The Advocate' in 2012, about a year after the Arab Spring began. The book also loses its way in its attempts to capture the weight of who his prolific grandfather was. But despite shared growing pains, most won't relate to his specific privileges. Sharif's memoir grips you for sure – sending you on international adventures and even to the Oscars stage – and could indeed help someone grappling with their sexuality. The grandson of late actor Omar Sharif ('Lawrence of Arabia,' 'Doctor Zhivago'), and Egyptian Canadian actor and model, details his meandering and melancholy – but ultimately meaningful – journey in new memoir 'A Tale of Two Omars: A Memoir of Family, Revolution, and Coming Out During the Arab Spring' (Counterpoint, 209 pp., ★★½ out of four). But when you're Egyptian, Jewish and gay – identities often incongruent with each other – you're bound to face conflict.Īnd Omar Sharif Jr. Watch Video: Sex and gender identity: What it means to be intersex, nonbinary

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