Mohammad Umer (19 April 1955 – 2 October 2021), known professionally as Umer Shareef, was a Pakistani actor, host, comedian, director, producer, writer, singer and television personality.[4][5]
Umer began his career at the age of 14 with stand-up comedy and later worked in around 60 stage comedies as well as numerous television shows and films, where he not only acted but also directed and produced.[6]
Early life
Mohammad Umer was born on 19 April 1955,[7] into a middle-class Muhajir family in Liaquatabad, Karachi.[8] The youngest of his siblings, he lost his father when he was 4.[9]
Career
Stage work
In 1969, Umer started his career from Karachi as a stage performer at the age of 14.[10] He joined theatre, using the stage name Umer Zarif, modelled after his favourite comedian Munawar Zarif, but later renamed himself to Umer Sharif following Egyptian actor Omar Sharif that he admired due to the 1962-movie Lawrence of Arabia.[8]
In 1976, he wrote the stage play Bionic Servant, inspired by the American TV series Six Million Dollar Man, where Moin Akhter was an actor, marking their first collaboration.[9]
Some of his extremely popular comedy stage plays were 1989's Bakra Qistoon Pe and Buddha Ghar Pe Ha.[8]
Sharif became a very popular star during this period.[8] Much of the success came from the fact that he started to record his stage shows and his videotapes were rented out in a similar manner to movies.[8]Yes Sir Eid and No Sir Eid were among the first stage plays to come out on video.[8]
Television
In 2002, Sharif wrote his first TV serial, Parda Na Uthao.[9]
In October 2009, he started hosting his own late-night talk show, The Shareef Show, on Geo Entertainment. He interviewed many actors, entertainers, musicians, and politicians on the show.[8] Another of his shows was Umer Sharif vs Umer Sharif, where he donned over 400 get-ups.[9] He also appeared as a guest judge on the Indian stand-up comedy show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, alongside Navjot Singh Siddhu, and Shekhar Suman.[8]
Films
Sharif's first movie was Hisaab (1986) but he's better known for Mr 420 (1992), a movie where he not only acted but also directed, wrote and sung in, that led to a revival of Pakistan's cinema till 1998.
He would work in some 35 films, his last movie being Chand Babu (1999), that he directed, produced and acted in.
Awards
Sharif received National awards for Best Director and Best Actor in 1992 for Mr. 420. He received ten Nigar Awards. Sharif was the only actor to receive four Nigar Awards in a single year. He received three Graduate Awards. Sharif was also a recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.[11][12]
Politics
In 2007, Sharif announced he had joined MQM, saying he had done so because the party was open-minded and ‘best for Karachi’.[13] In 2011, backed by the MQM, he ran for the presidency of the Karachi Arts Council. But the PPP-backed candidate, Ahmed Shah, defeated him.[13]
Humanitarian work
In 2006, the Umer Sharif Welfare Trust was formed with the stated goal of creating a "state of the art health centre that provides services free of cost."[14]
Controversies
For the 50-year anniversary of Pakistan's independence, Sharif performed a play called Umer Sharif Haazir Ho. In the play, a representative from many occupations were called into court and asked what they had done for Pakistan in the past 50 years. The Lawyer's Association stated a case against Sharif as a result.[15]
Illness and death
On 10 September 2021, Pakistani television host and news anchor Waseem Badami posted a video of Shareef on Instagram where he requested the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan to facilitate cancer treatment for him overseas.[16][17][18] Soon after the video came out, Indian singer Daler Mehndi also appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan for immediate treatment for Sharif.[19][20] On 11 September 2021, the government formed a medical board to decide whether or not to send him abroad for treatment.[21] He was granted a United States visa for medical treatment on 16 September 2021[22] and the Sindh government also approved 40 million rupees for his treatment.[23][24] Despite all these projects, on 2 October 2021, he died in a hospital in Nuremberg, Germany,[25][26] at the age of 66.[27]
Influence and legacy
Referred to as the "King of Comedy", Sharif is considered to be one of the greatest comedians of South Asia.[28] Popular Indian comedians like Johnny Lever hailed him as "The God of Asian comedy".[29]
