Omar Sharif is famous for acting in Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia.
“I lost millions of dollars gambling,” Omar Sharif said. “I know I have for sure, because I’ve made millions of dollars and I don’t have it now.”
However, this happened: In 1966, Omar was at a film promotion dinner in Italy. He was sitting next to a ‘gorgeous’ Italian starlet with ‘an amazing figure’. They began flirting. Then they went to a disco where they began making-out in a booth.
Finally. Omar said, “Would you like to come to my room for a nightcap?”
She said, “No.”
“How can you say no?” Omar asked. “We’ve been making-out for four hours.”
But her no was final.
Omar tells the story: “I couldn’t believe that she said no. I had just made Dr. Zhivago and thought I was irresistible. But she said, ‘I don’t go to men’s rooms.’ So I said, ‘Okay’.
“Since I had been very worked up, I got upset and went to the casino. I put all my money on one number three times and won on every number. Then they closed the table because I had broken the bank.
NOTE: The payback on betting on a single number is 35 times his bet. It would only take a small bet to break the bank, letting it ride at: 35x35x35.
Omar continues: “They gave me a big pile of money. I was afraid of being robbed, so I packed my bags and took a taxi to Rome. I was a little drunk, so I didn’t count the money that night. The next day, I counted it. $1,164,000. ($9.3 million today).
“I thought, because that girl turned me down, I had this amazing luck. She was part of my good fortune. I have to do something for this girl, I told myself.
“I thought about giving her 10%, but then I figured I shouldn’t give her money. That’s not so cool between a man and a woman that just met once. It might seem like I’m trying to buy her affections to meet up again.
“So I called the florist and said. ‘I want to buy every flower you have.’ The florist said, ‘You can’t do that’. I said, ‘Yes, I can.’ ‘But we have 25 tons of flowers.’ I said, ‘That’s good. Send them.’ It cost me $100,000.
“Five trucks of flowers were sent to the girl’s hotel with a message from me saying, You would have been the most expensive affair I ever had.”
Paul Kyriazi 