hollywood: Shaike Ophir

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Shaike Ophir

Shaike Ophir (November 4, 1929 – August 17, 1987; Hebrew: שייקה אופיר‎) was an Israeli film actor and comedian, and the country's first mime.He studied acting as an adolescent, but left school in the 1940s to join the Palmach. During Israel’s War of Independence he escorted convoys to the besieged city of Jerusalem, and took part in naval battles. Ophir, a heavy smoker, died from lung cancer in 1987. During the late 1950s and early 1960s Ophir occasionally guest-starred in American TV shows such as Shirley Temple's Storybook and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Ophir acted in 28 films, wrote, directed and starred in several variety shows and was an accomplished mime, appearing alongside Marcel Marceau. He reached the peak of his international fame in the title role of Ha-Shoter Azoulay (literally, Policeman Azoulay, translated as The Policeman), a film-vehicle by Ephraim Kishon which won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Film (1972) and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award the same year.