Igal Naor (; born ) is an Israeli actor, sometimes credited as Yigal Naor.

Biography

Naor was born in

Givatayim Givatayim () is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. In it had a population of . The name of the city comes from the "two hills" on w ...

, Israel, to

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

parents from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He has appeared in the American films ''

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

'', ''

Green Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...

'' and '' Rendition''. Naor portrayed

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

in the four-episode ''

House of Saddam ''House of Saddam'' is a 2008 British docudrama television miniseries that charted the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein. A co-production between BBC Television and HBO Films, the series was first broadcast on BBC Two (in the United Kingdom) in f ...

'' television docudrama from

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

(2008), in an acclaimed performance. In Season 5, Episode 4 of ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

'', he portrays General Youssef, a high-ranking Syrian military officer whom the CIA wants to install in place of Syrian President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

. He also appeared in the Netflix series,

Fauda ''Fauda'' (, from ''fawḍā'', meaning "chaos" or "mess") is an Israeli television series developed by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff drawing on their experiences in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It tells the story of Doron, a commander in ...

Selected filmography

* '' Deadline'' (1987) – Antoine * '' The Seventh Coin'' (1993) – Grocer * ''The Mummy Lives'' (1993) – Egyptology Official * '' Saint Clara'' (1996) – Headmaster Tissona * ''Ha-Dybbuk B'sde Hatapuchim Hakdoshim'' (1997; also known as ''Ahava Asura'') – Sender * ''Miss Entebbe'' (2003) – Avram * '' Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi'' (2003) – Headmaster Avihu * ''

'' (2005) – Mahmoud Hamshari * '' Djihad!'' (2006, TV Movie) – Colonel Walid * '' Rendition'' (2007) – Abasi Fawal * ''

'' (2008, TV Mini-Series) –

* ''A House Divided'' (2008) – Ahmed * '' Occupation'' (2009, TV Mini-Series) – Dr. Sadiq Alasadi * ''

'' (2010) – General Mohammed Al Rawi * '' The Infidel'' (2010) – Arshad El-Masri * ''

I Am Slave ''I Am Slave'' is a 2010 television film produced for Channel 4 on the story of one woman's fight for freedom from modern-day slavery. It premiered on Channel 4 on 30 August 2010. The movie is mostly based on the experiences of Mende Nazer, a S ...

'' (2010) – Said * '' Dead Europe'' (2012) – Syd * ''

The Grass Crown The Grass Crown () or Blockade Crown (''corona obsidionalis'') was the highest and rarest of all military decorations in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was presented only to a general, commander, or officer whose actions saved a ...

'' (2012) * '' Sinbad'' (2012, TV Series) – Emir * ''Farewell Baghdad'' (2013) – Salman * ''

Ambassadors An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

'' (2013, TV Mini-Series) – President Karzak * '' The Honourable Woman'' (2014, TV Mini-Series) – Shlomo Zahary * '' 300: Rise of an Empire'' (2014) – King

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

* ''Suicide'' (2014; also known as ''Hitabdut'') – Muki * ''

'' (2015, TV Series) – General Youssef * ''

False Flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrep ...

'' (2015, TV Series) – Gavriel "Gabi" Silver * ''

The Women's Balcony ''The Women's Balcony'' () is a 2016 Israeli comedy film directed by Emil Ben-Shimon. The film stars Evelin Hagoel, Yigal Naor, Orna Banai and Aviv Alush. The film follows a Mizrahi synagogue congregation in Jerusalem's Bukharan Quarter. The ...

'' (2016) – Zion * '' The Promise'' (2016) – Mesrob * ''

Riviera () is an Italian word which means , ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria (the Genoa region in northwestern Italy) in the form , then shortened in English. Riviera may a ...

'' (2017, TV Series) – Jakob Negrescu * '' Stratton'' (2017) – Tariq Alawi * '' Maktub'' (2017) – Tzafuf * '' Damascus Cover'' (2017) – General Fuad * '' The Unorthodox'' (2018) – Rabbi

Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...

* '' On the Ropes'' (2018, TV Mini-Series) – Sami Al-Amir * ''

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

'' (2021, TV Movie) – Joel Singer * '' Legend of Destruction'' (2021) –

John of Giscala John of Gischala (, ; , 70) was a leader of the first Jewish revolt against the Romans. History During the Jewish war with Rome, John of Gischala (), son of Levi (), vied with Josephus over the control of Galilee and amassed a large band of su ...

* '' Wendell & Wild'' (2022) – Manberg * '' Highway 65'' – Nissim

Awards and nominations

, - , 1996 , '' Saint Clara'' , Best Supporting Actor ,

Ophir Award The Ophir Awards (), full name: the Israel Film Academy Award, sometimes also known as the Israeli Oscars or the Israeli Academy Awards, are film awards for excellence in the Israeli film industry awarded by the Israeli Academy of Film and Tele ...

, , ,

References

External links

*
Cast biography
on the microsite for HBO's ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Naor, Igal 1958 births Israeli male film actors Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Israeli male television actors Living people People from Givatayim Israeli Mizrahi Jews Ophir Award winners