Ayelet Zurer ( he, איילת זורר; born ) is an Israeli actress. She was nominated for awards at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...

, the Israeli Academy Awards and the Israeli Television Academy Awards. She won Best Actress awards for her roles in the Israeli film ''

Nina's Tragedies ''Nina's Tragedies'' ( he, האסונות של נינה) is a 2003 Israeli comedy-drama film about a boy Nadav and his aunt Nina. The film is shown from the perspective of Nadav and tells of his experiences regarding his aunt Nina and her loss, u ...

'' and '' Betipul''. She also portrays

Vanessa Fisk Vanessa Fisk (née Marianna) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is married to the crime boss the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) and is the mother of Richard Fisk, although she herself is not portraye ...

Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''

Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superhero ...

'' (2015–18).

Early life and personal life

Ayelet Zurer was born and raised 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 ...

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 ...

, to a Jewish family. Her mother was born in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

by hiding in a convent. She

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Israel in the 1950s. Her Israeli-born father is of Russian-Jewish descent. L'Chayim: ''Ayelet Zurer''. She has described her parents as "working-class people". During her service in 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 ...

, Zurer was a soldier 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 Northern Command. After finishing her military service, Zurer studied acting for three years at the Performing Arts Studio founded by Yoram Loewenstein. She moved to the United States and studied with George Morison at the

Actor's Workshop The Actor's Workshop was a theatre company founded in San Francisco in 1952. It was the first professional theatre on the west coast to premiere many of the modern American classics such as Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucib ...

in New York City. In 2003, she married her former Israeli surfing instructor, Gilad Londovski. They have a son and reside in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Television and film career

Television

Diane Keaton, Ayelet Zurer and Kevin Kline (2012)

In 1991, Zurer moved back to Israel. In 1992, she starred in the television series ''

Inyan Shel Zman Inyan Shel Zman ( he, עניין של זמן) or ''A Matter of Time'' is an Israeli teen drama broadcast from 1992 until 1996 on Israeli Educational Television. The series focused on stories of high school students in Tel Aviv and talked about is ...

'', and in 1993, she played Debbie in the Israeli comedy film ''Nikmato shel Itzik Finkelstein'' (''

Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein ''Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein'' ( translit. Nikmato Shel Itzik Finkelstein) is a 1993 Israeli fantasy comedy film directed by Enrique Rottenberg. It stars Moshe Ivgy, Estevan Gotfreed, Dvora Halter-Keidar and Shmil Ben Ari. Critically acc ...

''). During this time she also participated in the cable television show ''Yetziat Hirum''. In 1997, Zurer played the role of Shira Steinberg in the television show ''Florentin'' on Israeli '' Channel 2''. Several Israeli television series followed: in 2000, ''Zinzana'', and in 2002, ''Shalva'' and ''Ha'Block''. In 2004 when she was cast in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

's ''

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

'', she moved with her family to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 2005, she starred in another Israeli television series, ''Betipul'', a drama about a psychologist and his patients' therapy process. She plays Na'ama Lerner, a patient who starts a romance with the doctor. The series won her a Best Actress award from the Israeli Television Academy and was remade as the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, 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 ba ...

series ''

In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series '' BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series is about a ...

''. The following year Zurer participated in an Israeli

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television show called ''Gomrot Holchot'' that deals with the world of young women; relationships, marriage, sex, and career. The show is based on the British sketch comedy show ''

Smack the Pony ''Smack the Pony'' is a British sketch comedy show that was originally broadcast between 1999 and 2003 on Channel 4. The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips. There were also regular appearances from ...

''. In 2013, Zurer starred in the Israeli series ''

Shtisel ''Shtisel'' () is an Israeli television drama series about a fictional Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox" Jewish) family living in Geula, Jerusalem. Created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky, the series premiered on 29 June 2013 on yes ...

'' as an attractive widow, Elisheva Rotstein. In 2015, she starred in ''

'' as Vanessa Marianna, an art gallery owner. The series is part of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

. Zurer reprised her role in the third season (2018) of ''Daredevil''. In November 2020, Zurer was cast in a recurring role on the third season of the

psychological thriller series ''

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

''. She stars in the 2021 dramatic-thriller '' Losing Alice'' on Apple TV+.

Film

In 1998 she played the lead in the film ''Ahava Asura'' (a.k.a. ''The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field''). In 2001, she starred in the movies ''Laila Lelo Lola'' and ''Kikar Ha'Halomot''. In 2003, she starred in ''

'', portraying the title character, Nina, a young woman who has to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. She won an

Israeli Academy Award The Ophir Awards ( he, פרס אופיר), colloquially 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 Television. The award, named ...

for Best Actress for this role. Zurer appeared in ''

'' (2005), where she played Avner Kaufman's wife. She played a terrorist in the American thriller '' Vantage Point''. In 2007, she starred in ''

Fugitive Pieces ''Fugitive Pieces'' is a novel by Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels. The story is divided into two sections. The first centers around Jakob Beer, a Polish Holocaust survivor while the second involves a man named Ben, the son of two Holoc ...

'', in which a troubled young

survivor falls in love with her character. She played a nurse who falls in love with the title character in ''

Adam Resurrected ''Adam Resurrected'' ( he, אדם בן כלב, translit=''Adam Ben Kelev'') is a 2008 drama film directed by Paul Schrader and written by Noah Stollman based on a 1968 novel of the same name by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk (the book's original na ...

'' (2008). In April 2008, Zurer was cast as the female lead, Vittoria Vetra, in ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon: the first was his 2000 novel ''Angels & Demons''. ''The Da Vinci Code'' follows symbologist Robert Lang ...

'' sequel, ''

Angels & Demons ''Angels & Demons'' is a 2000 bestselling mystery- thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by Pocket Books and then by Corgi Books. The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon, who recurs as the protagonist of B ...

''. She played the lead role in the 2011 film '' Hide Away'' (a.k.a. "A Year in Mooring"), and played

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

's mother, Lara Lor-Van, in the reboot of the Superman franchise, '' Man of Steel'' (2013).

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

*
Ayelet Zurer at Theiapolis
*
Ayelet Zurer
at E-Online * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurer, Ayelet 1969 births Living people Actresses from Tel Aviv Israeli expatriates in the United States Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Jewish Israeli actresses Israeli female military personnel 20th-century Israeli actresses 21st-century Israeli actresses Israeli people of Czechoslovak-Jewish descent

Early life and personal life

Television and film career

Television

Film

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

See also

References

External links