Eli Danker (; born 12 October 1948) is an Israeli actor who has appeared in many films and television series. He is also the father of the Israeli singer-actor Ran Danker.

Career

Danker made his professional television debut on the Israeli comedy program ' ("Head Cleaning"), though he quickly established himself as a

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

in both television and film, playing

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

in ''

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

'', and contributing to several Israeli films, including '' Gabi Ben Yakar'' and '' B'Yom Bahir Ro'im et Dameshek''. During the 1980s, Danker guest-starred on a number of American television series, including ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...

'' and '' Mission: Impossible''. Starting in 2000, Danker's television appearances increased with guest roles on ''

Nash Bridges ''Nash Bridges'' is an American police procedural television series created by Carlton Cuse. The show stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as two Inspectors with the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The seri ...

'', '' The Agency'', '' Alias'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', '' JAG'', and ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, G ...

''.

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (1979) - Judas Iscariot * '' Gabi Ben Yakar'' (1982) * '' B'Yom Bahir Ro'im et Dameshek'' (1984) * '' Little Drummer Girl'' (1984) - Litvak * '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'' (1986) - Robert Aziz * '' Bouba'' (1987) - Eli * ''The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story'' (1988, TV Movie) - Castro * '' War and Remembrance'' (1988, TV Series) - Udam * ''

'' (1989, TV Series) - Yanif * '' Mission: Impossible'' (1988, TV Series) - Robard * ''Impulse'' (1990) - Dimarjian * '' A Gnome Named Gnorm'' (1990) - Zadar * '' Derech Ha'nesher'' (1990) * ''The Mummy Lives'' (1993) - Museum Director * ''

Chain of Command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

'' (1994) - Col. Hakkim * ''Tzedek muchlat'' (1997) * '' Isha Beafor'' (1997-1999, TV Series) * '' Suckers'' (1999) - Mohammed * ''Besame Mucho'' (2000) * ''

'' (2000, TV Series) - Abraham Lansk * '' Ingil'' (2001) * '' The Agency'' (2002, TV Series) - The Iraqi Intelligence Defector * '' Alias'' (2003, TV Series) - Ahmad Kabir * '' Special Forces USA'' (2003) - General Hasib Rafendek * ''Air Marshal'' (2003) - Elijah * ''

'' (2004, TV Series) - Israeli Defense Minister Doran Mazar * '' JAG'' (2005, TV Series) - Judge Haji Shareef * '' CSI: Miami'' (2005, TV Series) - Richard Thomason * '' The Cutter'' (2005) - Professor Abrams * '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006) - Crot * ''

'' (2006, TV Series) - Abdul al-Fulani * '' Alufa, Ha-'' (2006-2007, TV Series) - Itzik Zelig * '' My Mom's New Boyfriend'' (aka ''My Spy'') (2008) - Jean Yves Tatao * '' Viktor'' (2014) - Souliman * '' 24 Legacy'' (2017, TV Series) - Ibraham Bin-Khalid * ''Family'' (2017) - Dad * ''First We Take Brooklyn'' (2018) - Dudu

References

External links

*
Reference page devoted to Danker, giving film, movie, and television credits
1948 births Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli male film actors Israeli male television actors Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Living people Place of birth missing (living people) {{Israel-actor-stub