Ageing actor Omar Sharif is relieved he isn't married because he's such a grumpy morning person.

The Egyptian-born star, 73, who has been romantically linked to a string of beauties in his lifetime, is so fixed in his ways he prefers to sleep alone and can't bear the idea of someone else even using his bathroom.

He says, "I don't mind my own company. If I minded, I would have remarried. In some ways I don't mind being lonely.

"I couldn't stand anyone to share a bathroom with me. I couldn't stand anyone to wake up in my bed. I can't stand people who wake up and say, 'Good morning'. I don't want to hear any sounds when I wake up.

"I don't want anyone to draw the curtains. I am fragile. I don't talk til about five hours after I wake up. I don't wake up refreshed - ever - except when I have to go to work."