Miriam Zohar ( he, מרים זוהר; born 16 October 1931) is an Israeli actress. She is part of the

Beit Lessin Theater Beit Lessin Theater ( he, תיאטרון בית ליסין, translit: ''Teatron Bet Lessin'') is a theater in Tel Aviv, Israel. History The theater was established in 1980 by Yaakov Agmon for the Histadrut. Over the years the theater has shown ov ...

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 ...

Biography

Zohar was born and lived in

Czernowitz Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...

, then

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, with her family until 1941. During that year,

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

invaded the city and Zohar, her brother and her parents were deported to

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

(now western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). In Transnistria, she and her family were forced into hard labor in Nazi work camps. In 1944, the

Soviet military The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

liberated them from Nazi forces and Zohar and her family moved back to Czernowitz. In 1946, her father was arrested and taken to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Shortly after his imprisonment and death, the rest of her family moved to

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. In 1948, the family attempted to illegally immigrate to Palestine on the ''Pan York''. However,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

ships captured the ''Pan York'' and the passengers were placed in detention camps in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. In 1949, she and her family finally made it to Israel. In Israel, Zohar was invited to perform at a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

theater where she was noticed by the

Habimah 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. History ...

. In 1951, she auditioned and was accepted into the Habimah where she played until 1994. Zohar (meaning "splendor" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

) was a stage name she adopted when she worked with Habimah. During her time at the Habimah, she played many leading female roles in world-famous plays under the director, Hy Kalus. She was especially noted for her versatile performance in her role as Martha in ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

''. After leaving the Habimah, she started acting at the Beit Lessin, where she has worked with dramatist and director, Shemuel Hasfari. Zohar received an honorary doctorate from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

for her acting work. She received the Aharon Ashman prize in 1980 for her role in ''The Stroll'' by Mária Földes. In 1987, she received the Israel Prize for her body of work in acting. In 2004, she was in the movie, ''The Schwartz Dynasty''. In 2015, she was nominated for 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 ...

as Best Actress for her performance in ''Fire Birds.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zohar, Miriam 1931 births Living people Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli stage actresses Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Romanian emigrants to Israel Romanian Jews in Israel Survivors of World War II deportations to Transnistria