Renowned comedian Umer Sharif remembered on his birth anniversary

ISLAMABAD  -  Renowned comedian Umer Sharif was remembered on the occasion of his birth anniversary on Friday. Born on April 19, 1955, Umer started his career in Karachi as a stage performer at the age of 14 in 1969. He joined theatre, using the stage name Umer Zarif, modeled after his favorite comedian Munawar Zarif, but later renamed himself Umer Sharif.  He started off his career by the name Umer Zarif, but later he changed his name to Umer Sharif. He began his career as a stage performer.  Two of his very famous comedy plays included “Bakra Qiston Pe” and “Buddha Ghar Pe Hai”. Overall he acted in over 50 stage plays in his career and was called as King of comedy. Umer Sharif became a very popular star and much of the success came from the fact that he started to record his stage shows and his videotapes were rented out similarly to movies.

His 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 sang its songs as well. Overall he acted in  35 films, his last movie being Chand Babu (1999). He received two National Awards for Mr. 420 in the category of Best Actor and Director. Furthermore, he received 10 Nigar Awards.

Umer received the prestigious Tamgha-e-Imtiaz for his contributions to the Pakistani industry as an actor, producer, and comedian.

He died in a hospital in Nuremberg, Germany at the age of 66.

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