Orna Banai ( he, אורנה בנאי; born November 25, 1966) is an Israeli

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Co ...

and past member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo city Council.

Biography

Banai was born in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

and raised in Omer. Her father was a judge in Beersheba, and her mother was an education executive for the City of Beersheba. Many of her relatives are successful Israeli actors and singers. The next generation of the

Banai family Banai ( he, בנאי) is an Israeli and Persian surname. It may refer to the following people: *The Banai family of actors and musicians: **Ehud Banai (born 1953), Israeli singer and songwriter ** Elisha Banai (born 1988), Israeli singer, musici ...

, including Orna and her brothers,

Meir Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfre ...

and Eviatar, followed this tradition. After three years of studying acting in

Nissan Nativ Nissan Nativ (Hebrew: ניסן נתיב) (originally Notowicz; 5. November 1922 – 20 April 2008) was an influential Israeli director, actor and acting teacher. Life Nissan Nativ was born 1922 (as Nissan Notowicz) in Munich. In many biographi ...

's studio in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Banai started performing in

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

and entertainment shows. Banai became known for her portraying "Limor" in the

humor Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...

ous Israeli television shows ''Action'' and ''Rak BeIsrael'' (with

Erez Tal Erez Moshe Tal ( he, ארז טל; born 27 July 1961) is an Israeli television host. Early life Born as Erez Moshe Ben-Tulila in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jewish parents. His father, Aharon Ben-Tulila, immigrated from Algeria, whereas his mother Edn ...

). Since 2003, Banai has appeared in the popular

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

show ''

Eretz Nehederet ''Eretz Nehederet'' ( he, ארץ נהדרת; ) is an Israeli prime-time television satirical sketch comedy show, that premiered on Keshet's Channel 2 in 2003. It features satirical references to current affairs of the past week through parodies ...

''. In addition, Banai acted in television

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

s like ''Merchav-Yarkon'' and ''Max VeMoris''. Banai also appeared in theatrical plays like ''Singles'' and ''The Last Striptease''. She served as a member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council on behalf of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

from 2003 to 2008. In 2005, Banai played "Efrat" in the television show ''Ima'lle'', to which she contributed writing. The show was based on the story of Banai's own

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...

and the

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

of her son Amir. Banai is a lesbian. She describes her views on the

Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by th ...

as left-wing.

References

External links

1966 births Living people 21st-century Israeli women politicians Actresses from Tel Aviv Orna City councillors of Tel Aviv-Yafo Israeli female comedians Jewish Israeli actresses Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Israeli stage actresses Israeli television actresses Jewish Israeli politicians 20th-century Israeli comedians 21st-century Israeli comedians Lesbian politicians Lesbian comedians Israeli lesbian actresses Israeli LGBT comedians Israeli LGBT politicians People from Omer, Israel Mass media people from Beersheba {{israel-bio-stub