Years active1956–1988 Ex-spouseEliya Zohar Music groupHavoorat Lool
RoleFilm director NameUri Zohar
BornNovember 4, 1935 (age 80) (1935-11-04) Tel Aviv, Israel Alma materHebrew University of Jerusalem OccupationRabbi, film director, comedian, writer Notable workHole in the Moon
Three Days and a Child
The Hero EducationHebrew University of Jerusalem MoviesMetzitzim, A Hole in the Moon, Big Eyes, Save the Lifeguard, Three Days and a Child Similar PeopleArik Einstein, Shaike Ophir, Oded Kotler, Chaim Topol, Boaz Davidson
R uri zohar speaking about his life plus questions answers session english lecture
Uri Zohar (Hebrew: אורי זוהר, b. November 4 1935) is a former Israeli film director, actor, and comedian who left the entertainment world to become a rabbi.
Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv in November 4 1935. In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe. His first marriage ended in divorce.
By 1956, he was a popular stand-up comedian. In 1960, he studied philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was sentenced to three months of community service on charges of marijuana possession. In the 1960s, he directed and starred in Israeli films, among them Hole in the Moon, Three Days and a Child, Every Bastard a King, Big Eyes and Metzitzim. In 1976 he was awarded the Israel Prize for cinema, which he declined.
In the late 1970s, Zohar turned to religion, becoming a Haredi Orthodox Jew and a rabbi. In 1977, he began wearing a kippa on the television game show he was hosting. He is active in the movement to attract secular Jews to religious orthodoxy, and uses his entertainment skills to promote this objective. In the 1992 Israeli elections, Zohar directed the television broadcasts for Shas.
Awards and recognition
In 2012, Cinematheque Francaise in Paris held a retrospective of Zohar's work. The event included lectures and screenings of all his major films. Zohar was described as one of Israel's most interesting film directors due to his exploration of manhood and machismo, male-female relationships and the impact of the military.