Lior Ashkenazi ( he, ליאור אשכנזי; born 28 December 1968) is an Israeli actor, voice actor, comedian and television presenter.

Biography

Lior Ashkenazi was born in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...

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 ...

, and grew up in the Neveh Yehoshua neighborhood. His parents are

Sephardic Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

who

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 1964. His father, Shmuel, worked as a printer. His mother, Victoria, was a housewife. His parents spoke Ladino at home, and it was his first language. At the age of 16, in the wake of problems in school, he moved to

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Regavim.The Naked Truth

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

Ashkenazi served as a paratrooper 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 ...

, and was stationed in the

Israeli-occupied West Bank The Israeli occupation of the West Bank began on 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured and occupied the territory (including East Jerusalem), then occupied by Jordan, during the Six-Day War, and continues to the present day. The status of ...

during the

First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''wikt:intifada, intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "wikt:uprising, uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sus ...

.Shooting Star
Haaretz. 18 August 2005 Ashkenazi was first married to Israeli actress Shira Farber, with whom he had his first daughter. After his divorce, he had a relationship with Israeli playwright and screenwriter

Sigal Avin Sigal Avin (also spelled: Segahl Avin, he, סיגל אבין) is an American- Israeli writer and director. Early life Sigal Avin was born in Miami, Florida, U.S. and returned to Israel with her Israeli-Jewish parents at the age of ten. When ...

. In December 2011, he married Israeli producer Maya Amsellem. They had a daughter in August 2012.

Acting and film career

He studied acting at

Beit Zvi Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and a Theater ( he, בית צבי) is an acting school, and a theater located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950. History Beit Zvi is the country's first theater school ...

. After graduating in 1994, he worked for

Habima The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. Histor ...

and

Beersheba Theater The Beersheba Theater (תיאטרון באר שבע) is a theater located in Beersheba, Israel. History The Beersheba Theater was established by actresses Naomi Blumenthal and Margalit Stander during Eliyahu Nawi's tenure as mayor of Beers ...

. He starred in many plays at Beit Lessin Theater under the direction of Zipi Pines, one of his teachers at Beit Zvi. He also appeared with the

Cameri Theater The Cameri Theater ( he, התיאטרון הקאמרי, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. History The Cameri theater was found ...

in Tel Aviv, although Beit Lessin remained his home base. His breakout role came in ''

Late Marriage ''Late Marriage'' ( he, חתונה מאוחרת, ''Hatuna Meuheret'') is a 2001 Israeli film directed by Dover Kosashvili. The film centers on Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi, in his breakthrough role), the 31-year-old child of tradition-minded Georgian Je ...

'' alongside

Ronit Elkabetz Ronit Elkabetz ( he, רונית אלקבץ; 27 November 1964 – 19 April 2016) was an Israeli actress, screenwriter and film director. She worked in both Israeli and French cinema. She won three Ophir Awards and received a total of seven nomin ...

in 2001. In 2016 he appeared alongside

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

in the political drama, '' Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer''. Ashkenazi won an

Ophir 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 Lead Actor for his performance in the 2017 film, ''

Foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

'', Israel's entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

In November 2018 Ashkenazi appeared in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' The Tempest'', a joint production between the Old Globe Theatre and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

.Israeli Actor Lior Ashkenazi to Play Lead Role in L.A. Shakespeare Play
Haaretz. 16 September 2018 In 2019 Ashkenazi appeared in HBO's show '' Our Boys'', an American-Israeli series. Ashkenazi is also a Hebrew-language dubber. He dubbed Li Shang in the 1998 Disney film '' Mulan'' and the 2005 sequel as well as the title character in '' Bolt''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashkenazi, Lior 1968 births Living people People from Ramat Gan Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts alumni Israeli male film actors Israeli male voice actors Israeli male television actors Israeli male stage actors Israeli male comedians Israeli television presenters Jewish Israeli male actors Jewish Israeli comedians 20th-century Israeli male actors 21st-century Israeli male actors 20th-century Israeli comedians 21st-century Israeli comedians Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews