Shaike Ophir ( he, שייקה אופיר; November 4, 1928 – August 17, 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

.''The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Europe,'' Don Rubin
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Early life

Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. His family were Masortiim, and his

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

ancestry in the city goes back to the mid-19th century. He studied acting as an adolescent, but left school in the 1940s to enlist in the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmac ...

. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War he escorted convoys to the besieged city of Jerusalem, and took part in naval battles.

Career

Thanks to his comic skills he was accepted to the Chezbatron, an army entertainment troupe. In the 1950s, he made a name for himself as a multi-talented performer. He had even recorded a few hit songs during this period. 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 ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was r ...

'' (in the episode "The Waxwork," where he was billed as Shai K. Ophir). Ophir acted in 28 films, wrote, directed and starred in several variety shows and was an accomplished mime, appearing alongside

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...

. He reached the peak of his international fame in the title role of ''Ha-Shoter Azoulay'' (literally, ''Policeman Azoulay'', translated as ''

The Policeman ''The Policeman'' ( he, השוטר אזולאי, HaShoter Azoulay, lit=The Policeman Azoulay) is a 1971 Israeli feature film, written and directed by satirist Ephraim Kishon. The title character is played by Shaike Ophir (credited as Shay K. Oph ...

''), a film-vehicle by

Ephraim Kishon Ephraim Kishon (: August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satirists in Israel, and was also particu ...

which won a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Foreign-Language Film (1972) and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

the same year. He also starred in other Ephraim Kishon films, including '' Ervinka,

Blaumilch Canal Blaumilch Canal (international release title: The Big Dig) is a 1969 Israeli comedy satire written and directed by Ephraim Kishon, depicting the madness of bureaucracy through a municipality's reaction to the actions of a lunatic. History To fil ...

'' and '' The Fox in the Chicken Coop'', and the 1973

Moshé Mizrahi Moshé Mizrahi ( he, משה מזרחי; 5 September 1931 – 3 August 2018) was an Israeli film director. Biography He was born in Egypt, migrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1946, and studied filmmaking in France in 1950. He directed the Oscar-w ...

film '' Daughters, Daughters''. In 1977 he starred opposite

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

in '' The Garden''. In 1985, Ophir starred in a stage adaptation of

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). After spending ...

's children's novel ''King Matt the First'', where he played seven different roles. The children's play was very successful and ran for three years. Over this period Ophir was diagnosed with lung cancer, to which he succumbed in 1987. Ophir was a theatrical director for HaGashash HaHiver. He also directed the Israeli movie ''

Hamesh Ma'ot Elef Shahor The ''hamsa'' ( ar, خمسة, khamsa) is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East and commonly used in jewellery and wall hangings.Bernasek et al., 2008p. 12Sonbol, 2005pp. 355–359 Depicting the open right h ...

'', and wrote the screenplay for 4 Israeli movies. He wrote and performed many sketches and comedy routines, many of which are still popular in Israel today. He also did a series of Arabic-instruction TV programs that ran through the 1980s. He also appeared in the

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championsh ...

film, '' The Delta Force''.

Personal life

Ophir was married twice and had four children, two from each spouse. His daughter, Karin Ophir, is also an actress. Shaike Ophir, a heavy smoker, died from lung cancer in 1987.

Filmography

*1956: ''B'Ein Moledet'' *1956: ''Ma'aseh B'Monit'' .... Soldier *1963: ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or kin ...

'' .... Shneider *1964: ''Shemona B'Ekevot Ahat'' *1964: ''Hor B'Levana'' *1964: ''Dalia Vehamalahim'' *1966: ''Moishe Ventilator'' *1967: '' Ervinka'' .... The Sergeant *1968: ''Ha-Shehuna Shelanu'' *1969: ''

'' .... Police Officer *1971: ''

'' .... Constable Sgt. Abraham Azulai *1972: ''Shod Hatelephonim Hagadol'' *1973: '' Daughters, Daughters'' .... Sabbatai Alfandari *1973: ''The House on Chelouche Street'' .... Haim *1975: ''Yi'ihiyeh Tov Salmonico'' *1975: ''

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

'' .... Moshe *1977: ''Hamesh Ma'ot Elef Shahor'' *1977: '' The Garden'' .... Avram *1977: ''Gonev Miganav Patoor'' *1977: '' Operation Thunderbolt'' .... Gadi Arnon *1978: ''Ha-Shu'al B'Lool Hatarnagalot'' .... Amitz Dolniker *1979: ''

The Magician of Lublin ''The Magician of Lublin'' ( yi, דער קונצנמאַכער פֿון לובלין, translit=Der Kuntsnmakher fun Lublin) is a novel by Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer. Though originally written in Yiddish, it wa ...

'' .... Schmul *1979: ''Ta'ut Bamispar'' .... Superintendent Moshe Cohen *1985: ''

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the ...

'' .... Kassam *1986: '' The Delta Force'' .... Father Nicholas *1986: '' America 3000'' .... Lelz *1987: ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess ...

'' .... Master Elf (final film role)

Awards and commemoration

The Israeli Film Academy award is named the "Ophir Award" in his honor.

References

External links

*
Shaike Ophir, filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofir, Shaike 1928 births 1987 deaths Israeli male comedians Israeli male film actors Jewish Israeli male actors Israeli male stage actors Israeli male television actors Israeli entertainers Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Male actors from Jerusalem Palmach members 20th-century Israeli male actors 20th-century Israeli comedians Deaths from lung cancer in Israel Burials at Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery