Actor fined for headbutt (drunken Omar Sharif headbutts French cop)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | August 8, 2003

[dead]

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif was handed a suspended one-month prison sentence and fined $2630 for butting a police officer at a French casino, judicial sources in the French city of Pontoise said yesterday.

The 71-year-old actor, who starred in such Hollywood classics as Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, was also ordered by the court in Pontoise to pay 300 euros ($A526) in damages to his victim.

The incident occurred on the night of July 5 as Sharif, an enthusiastic gambler, was losing heavily in the casino of Enghien-les-Bains, about 40km north of the French capital.

According to judicial sources, Sharif was quarrelling with the croupier when the policeman stepped in. The actor then reportedly insulted the policeman and butted him with his forehead.

During the trial, Sharif claimed that he could remember nothing about the incident, which was filmed by the casino's cameras, and apologised.

DPA

[mhking]

He's still alive?

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Hatteras]

[Pest]

During the trial, Sharif claimed that he could remember nothing about the incident, which was filmed by the casino's cameras, and apologised.

Is France like Germany, where being drunk is a legitimate excuse to break the law?

[Puppage]

Did the cop surrender afterwards?

[Hatteras]

I just knew there was a reason I never liked the guy...

[smiley]

Read somewhere not long ago that Omar has his own hotel room in France that was basically given to him for as long as he lived because he spent so much money at this particular casino and also because Omar had no place else to go. Very sad ending to this actor's sterling acting career. Sounds as though gambling is in his blood and will never ever leave Omar a free man.

[newgeezer]

Sharif, an enthusiastic gambler

[GASP!] I thought Omar was nothing more than an innocent bridge player!

[robowombat]

Actually he once was quoted as saying this; "Babara Striesand thinks she is a beautiful woman. Acutually she is neither."

[Wright is right!]

I notice that no one - not a single scribe in the press - ever described Bill Bennett as "an enthusiastic gambler."

Michael

[Grammy]

Some men age really well.


He is not one of them.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"The shareef don't like it
Rockin' the Casbah
Rock the Casbah"

[dead]

He looks like a castaway.

[At _War_With_Liberals]

Only French law enforcement could take a beatdown from Omar Sharif.

I'm gaining a new respect for them refusing to send troops to Iraq. Chirac has a duty not to let them get slaughtered. I doubt if they could have put up a fight against the iraqi regulars.

[B-Chan]

Shariffic!

[Puppage]

LOL!!! I never thought of it that way.

[1rudeboy]

The flip-side of your argument, of course, is that had this occurred in the U.S., a SWAT-team would've pumped the old man full of bullets.

[DonQ]

Sharif, an enthusiastic gambler, was losing heavily

Sharif, an expert contract bridge tournament player - although many years ago he got mentioned in the papers for refusing to play at a table with Jews, took over Charles Goren's Bridge column about fifteen years ago.

You'd think he'd be a better player - and a more sporting loser - than this story indicates.

[dead]

Only if they could shoot him from behind their van.

[etcetera]

"...Sharif claimed that he could remember nothing about the incident..."

The argument must be that he took a blow to the head?