Liraz Charhi ( he, לירז צ'רכי; ) is 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, singer and dancer.

Early life

Charhi was born in Ramla,

, to an

Iranian Jewish Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor s ...

family. Her aunt is Israeli singer and actress

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...

. She was enlisted as a soldier to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, serving in the

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

of the Education and Youth Corps, until 1999.

Career

Charhi began singing and performing at the age of 5, and made her debut as stage actress at the Habima National Theatre, where she worked professionally from 11 to 14; then she studied at the Beit Zvi Stage Arts School. She appeared in the Israeli TV series '' Ha-Masa'it'' in 2002 and gained further attention after a nomination by the Israeli Film Academy (Ophir Award) for her role in the 2004 film '' Turn Left at the End of the World'' (''Sof Ha'Olam Smola''). She was invited to the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2006, after which she broke into Hollywood. Charhi has since become known for her roles in the French mini TV series ''Revivre'', and the films, '' Fair Game'' (2010) and ''

A Late Quartet ''A Late Quartet'' (released in Australia as ''Performance'') is a 2012 American drama film directed by Yaron Zilberman and co-written by Zilberman and Seth Grossman. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Mar ...

'' (2012) in which she played the jogger and flamenco dancing girlfriend of

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...

. As a singer she has released the singles "Od Tzohorayim" and "Al Tafsik" which have been played on radio in Israel. Charhi's first album sung in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, ''Naz'', was released in 2018. In November 2020, Charhi's second Persian album, titled ''Zan'' (meaning "woman"), was released on Glitterbeat Records in collaboration with Raman Loveworld and some other Iranian artists. Some artists collaborated anonymously, and some have joined the project publicly, despite the risks involved in collaborating with an Israeli artist. The first release from the album was "Injah". In 2020, she played Yael Kadosh, an Israeli

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

agent in the Israeli espionage television series ''

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

'' ( he, טהרן), written by Zonder and Omri Shenhar and directed by Daniel Syrkin. The series is about the

Iran–Israel proxy conflict The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, also known as the Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War, is an ongoing proxy war between Iran and Israel. The conflict involves threats and hostility by Iran's leaders against Israel, and their decla ...

; and it premiered in Israel on 22 June 2020 and on 25 September 2020 internationally on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

Personal life

She was married to Israeli composer and conductor Ziv "Kojo" Cojocaru from 2004 to 2010. She married Israeli actor Tom Avni in 2013, and they have two daughters.

Discography

Albums

*''Naz'' (2018) *''Zan'' (November 2020) *''Roya'' (October 7, 2022)

Songs / videos

*''Zan Bezan'' (2019) *''Injah'' (2020) *''Bia Bia'' (2020)

Filmography

References

External links

*
Interview
at the ''Jewish Journal''
Iranian musicians help out in secret on Israeli singer's new record
at "the Guardian"
INTERVIEW
at "Songlines" {{DEFAULTSORT:Charhi, Liraz Israeli Jews Israeli television actresses Israeli film actresses 21st-century Israeli women singers 1978 births Living people People from Ramla Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni Israeli expatriates in the United States Israeli people of Iranian descent