State media is reporting that Franco-Egyptian actor Gamil Ratib, whose roles as villain or aristocrat made him a household name across the Arab world, has died at age 92.
Ratib died in a Cairo hospital Wednesday of an unspecified illness, the official MENA news agency reported.
His career began in the 1940s when he landed a role in an Arabic adaptation of "The Three Musketeers." His scenes were removed because his parents objected to him acting.
FILE - In this July 12, 2015 file photo, actor Gamil Ratib, attends a funeral in Cairo, Egypt. Ratib, an award-winning Franco-Egyptian actor whose roles as villain or aristocrat made him a household name across the Arab world, died Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. He was 92. Ratib appeared in about 100 films in both French and Arabic. (AP PhotoHassan Ammar, File)
Ratib traveled to study law in Paris, but he kept on acting and joined the storied "Comédie Française" before his big break came with a role in the 1956 movie "Trapeze" with Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Another milestone was his part as an Arab in the 1962 classic "Lawrence of Arabia."
A dual French and Egyptian citizen, Ratib returned to Egypt in the 1970s when his leading roles in hit movies and TV dramas earned him celebrity status.