Three Famous Men I Never Knew Were Lebanese
Seems like Lebanon’s got talent, beauty, style and pizzazz. I mean, I knew it had spawned onscreen siren Salma Hayek and sexy songstress Shakira, but I recently discovered three male icons that I never knew were Lebanese or had Lebanese blood. Ready for the revelations?
1. Omar Sharif
Thought the sexiest cinema star of the sixties, seventies and eighties was Egyptian? So did I. Omar may have been born in Alexandria but his parents were full-blood Lebanese. Omar’s acting career kicked off with a bang in the Egyptian film, Sira`a Fi al-Wadi, (English, The Blazing Sun). He starred with his wife, Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, in several movies, although his decision to stay in Europe to develop an international profile eventually led to their divorce (while housewives the world over breathed a sigh of relief).
Sharif’s first English language film was Lawrence of Arabia in 1962, which earned this Lebanese man a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, a Most Promising Newcomer award and a reputation as the hottest Arabic actor on Earth. (My mum agrees!)
2. Keanu Reeves
Another wild card: Believe it or not, Kay-ah-noo was born in Beirut, Lebanon! He is the son of Patricia Bond, an English costume designer/performer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, Jr., a geologist of Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese and English descent. Reeves’s mother was working in Beirut when she met his father.
Keanu was whisked around the world as a child. After his parents divorced in 1966, his mother became a costume designer and moved the family to Australia and then to New York City. The rest, as they say… is history.
3. Frank Zappa
I kid you not, or at least it was music to my ears. The legendary (and sadly deceased) avant-garde composer, musician, Godfather of wah-wah guitar, Phoenix of psychedelia, record producer and man of movies was born to a half Lebanese father.
With a career that spanned almost 40 years, Zappa certainly covered the spectrum of the music industry. He produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.
