Betsy Hiel: My meeting with Omar

One of the many delights of living in Cairo was a fortuitous meeting with international movie star Omar Sharif, who was as gracious and charming in person as he was on the big screen.

Several years ago, I heard of friends spotting Sharif at different restaurants around Cairo, some of them in my neighborhood, Zamalek, an upscale section of Cairo located on a small island on the Nile.

I immediately went on the hunt for Omar Sharif sightings, which became kind of a fun thing to do. But I always just missed him at one location or another.

One night, while out for dinner with friends at La Trattoria, an Italian restaurant in Zamalek, Sharif walked in with a group of young Egyptian men and women. As a fan of his starring roles in the movies “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Dr. Zhivago,” I was thrilled to see him sit down at a table near ours.

At one point Sharif stood up, put on someone's suit jacket, and proceeded to teach the Egyptians how to act as if they had an injury. The table of young men and women listened and watched intently.

I asked my friend Dana Smillie — a very talented news photographer, armed as always with her camera — to accompany me as I mustered up the courage to ask Sharif for his autograph and maybe a photograph, too.

I walked over to his table and said, “Mr. Sharif, I am sorry to bother you.”

He looked up and — as suavely as one of his screen characters — replied, “It is never a bother when a beautiful woman is involved,” then proceeded to kiss my hand.

He readily agreed when I asked for a photograph, pulling me cheek-to-cheek with him as Dana snapped pictures.

I also asked for an autograph. “Of course,” he said. “Is it for you or your mother?”

I grinned and told him the autograph was for the both of us.

Betsy Hiel is the Tribune-Review's foreign correspondent. Email her at bhiel@tribweb.com .