How much do you know about Omar Sharif?

He may have been one of Egypt’s biggest stars, but how much do you know about Omar Sharif? Step back in time to 1978 as he shares some of his favorite pieces of music and little-known details about his life in conversation with the BBC (download and listen, runtime: 27:05).

Among the tidbits: A chance encounter at Groppi paved the way to him getting his first film role, in Siraa Fil-Wadi. Sharif never expected to play the lead in Dr. Zhivago, instead initially proposing to director David Lean that he audition for a relatively minor role in the film. He “discovered” Barry White before he was famous, in a little bar in Harlem in the mid-70s, and the singer wrote him letters for years to thank him for his early support. All his fundamental values in life, he said, could be summed up by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic book The Little Prince.