Haya Harareet ( he, חיה הררית) (20 September 1931 – 3 February 2021
) was an
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i actress and screenwriter. One of her major film roles was playing Esther, Ben Hur's love interest in the 1959 Hollywood-made film ''
Ben-Hur''.
Early life
Haya Neuberg () was born in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, in what was then
British Mandatory of Palestine (now
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
), the second of three children.
Her
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 ...
parents, Reuben and Yocheved Neuberg, emigrated to the pre-Israeli
Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...
community of Palestine from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
when they were young.
Her father worked for the government 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 ...
.
She received the surname Hararit (later changed to Harareet), which means "mountainous" in Hebrew, at school.
Career
Harareet began her career in Israeli films with ''
Hill 24 Doesn't Answer'' (1955), which was nominated for the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
1955 Cannes Film Festival
The 8th Cannes Film Festival was held from 26 April to 10 May 1955. The Golden Palm went to the US film '' Marty'' by Delbert Mann. The festival opened with '' Du rififi chez les hommes'' by Jules Dassin and closed with ''Carmen Jones'' by Otto Pr ...
. She played opposite
Virna Lisi Verna or Virna may refer to:
People
* Verna Aardema (1911–2000), American author of children's books
* Verna Bloom (1939–2019), American actress
* Virna De Angeli (born 1976), Italian former sprinter
* Virna Dias (born 1971), Brazilian reti ...
in
Francesco Maselli
Francesco Maselli or Citto Maselli (born 9 December 1930, in Rome) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed 38 films since 1949.
Biography
Maselli graduated at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, National Film School ...
's ''
The Doll that Took the Town'' (1957), an Italian film. Her major role as Esther in ''
Ben-Hur'' (1959) remained her most widely remembered performance in international cinema. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', in its review of ''Ben-Hur'', praised Harareet's performance:
Haya Harareet, an Israeli actress making her first appearance in an American film, emerges as a performer of stature. Her portrayal of Esther, the former slave and daughter of Simonides, steward of the House of Hur, is sensitive and revealing. Wyler presumably deserves considerable credit for taking a chance on an unknown. She has a striking appearance and represents a welcome departure from the standard Hollywood ingenue.
Then came 1961's ' (''Journey Beneath The Desert'', aka ''The Lost Kingdom''), directed by
Edgar G. Ulmer and co-starring
Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...
. She appeared opposite
Stewart Granger
Stewart Granger (born James Lablache Stewart; 6 May 1913 – 16 August 1993) was a British film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s, rising to fame thr ...
in
Basil Dearden
Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director.
Early life and career
Dearden was born at 5, Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and his wife, Fl ...
's film ''
The Secret Partner
''The Secret Partner'' is a 1961 British thriller film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stewart Granger, Haya Harareet and Bernard Lee. The screenplay concerns a shipping executive officer who is blackmailed by an evil dentist.
Plot
J ...
'' (1961), and she played the role of Dr. Madolyn Bruckner in ''
The Interns'' (1962).
She co-wrote the screenplay for ''
Our Mother's House
''Our Mother's House'' is a 1967 British drama thriller film directed by Jack Clayton. It nominally stars Dirk Bogarde (who only appears in the film's second half) and principally features a cast of seven juvenile actors, including Pamela Frankli ...
'' (1967), from the novel of the same name by
Julian Gloag
Julian Gloag (born 2 July 1930) is an English novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels, the best known of which is his first, ''Our Mother’s House'' (1963), which was made into a film of the same name starring Dirk Bogarde ...
.
Personal life and death
Harareet's first husband was Nachman Zerwanitzer, an Israeli irrigation engineer.
They lived in an apartment in Tel Aviv and were divorced sometime before 1961.
[Jack Clayton
Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen.
Overview
Starting out as a teenage studio "tea boy" in 1935, Clayton worked his way up ...]
. They were married in
, Buckinghamshire, England, at age 89 from natural causes.
At the time of her death, she was the last surviving credited cast member of ''Ben Hur''.