Uri Zohar ( ; 4 November 1935 – 2 June 2022) was an Israeli film director, actor, comedian and rabbi. A major figure of the Israeli New Sensibility movement in Israeli cinema, he became one of the country's most prolific and prominent filmmakers in the 1960s and 1970s.Anderman, Nirit (4 November 2018). Genius, Sex Symbol, ultra-Orthodox: Revisiting an Israeli Icon Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026. He was named a recipient of the Israel Prize for Cinema in 1976, but he declined to accept the award.
Zohar was born and raised in Tel Aviv. He moved to Jerusalem and studied philosophy at university. As a filmmaker, he rose to prominence with his first full-length feature Hole in the Moon (1964). Three Days and a Child (1967) was nominated for the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival.
His drama, Every Bastard a King (1968) was a major box office success.Friedman, Lior (18 October 2008). Three Kings Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026. He later directed his Tel Aviv Trilogy, with the critically acclaimed Metzitzim (Peeping Toms) (1972), Big Eyes (1974) and his final mainstream film, (, 1977).
In the mid-70s he started to become religious, eventually emerging as one of Israel's most prominent Baal teshuva figures. He eschewed his entertainment career by 1978 and became a Haredi rabbi.Misgav, Uri (10 June 2022). Uri Zohar Didn't Die Now. He Passed in 1978, When He Began to Repent Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026.
Early life and education Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv. His parents were Polish Jewish immigrants.Famed actor-turned-rabbi Uri Zohar dies at 86 In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe. His first marriage, to singer Ilana Rovina, ended in divorce.
In 1960, he studied philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was sentenced to three months of community service on charges of marijuana possession.Despair and Deliverance In the late 1970s, under the influence of Yitzhak Shlomo Zilberman, Zohar turned to religion, becoming a Haredi Orthodox Jew and a rabbi.Hadar, Alon (23 August 2007) "Goodbye to All That", Haaretz. "After Ponovezh I went to the yeshiva of Rabbi Zilberman, where Uri Zohar studied, in the Old City of Jerusalem."
Zohar was one of the founding members of Ma'ale Amos. Later, he resided in Jerusalem.
Career 1957-1962: Early roles, theatre and directorial debut
After his discharge from the army, Zohar became one of the founding members of the theatre and entertainment troupe Batzal Yarok, which was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s.Israel mourns passing of cultural icon turned rabbi Uri Zohar
Asa an actor, he had early film roles in the Larry Frisch picture Pillar of Fire (1959), Raphael Nussbaum's Burning Sands (1960). He also had a minor role in Otto Preminger's Hollywood epic Exodus, about the founding of the State of Israel.Schewitzer, Ariel (1 November 2013). Hedonist to Haredi: Iconic Israeli Filmmaker's Works Still Project Truth Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026. He also had a role in Ulai Terdu Sham (Dreamboat) (1964), which is regarded as a pivotal film in Tel Aviv cinema.Klein, Uri (7 April 2015). The Greatest Tel Aviv Movies of All Time Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026.
In 1962, he co-directed the documentary film The True Story of Palestine (Etz O Palestina) with Nathan Axelrod and Joel Silberg. The film charts the lives of the Yishuv, the Jewish community residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.The True Story of Palestine Jerusalem Cinematheque. Retrieved on 10 January 2026.
1963-1977: Breakthrough, acclaim and box office success
In 1964, he directed and starred in his first full-length feature film, Hole in the Moon. It is considered the first film of the New Sensibility movement in Israeli cinema and is regarded as a classic. It tells the story of new Jewish migrants to the State of Israel, who create an imaginary cinematic city in the Negev desert. It was screened at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival as part of International Critics' Week.Premiere of the Film Hole in the Moon in Tel Aviv Jerusalem Cinematheque. Retrieved on 10 January 2026.
In 1967, he directed Three Days and a Child, a modernist adaptation of a short story of the same name by A. B. Yehoshua. It was nominated for the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. The film's star, Oded Kotler won the award for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.
This was followed by Every Bastard a King (1968), a critical and commercial hit.Friedman, Lior (18 October 2008). Three Kings Haaretz. Retrieved on 10 January 2026. It became one of the most successful box office hits in Israeli cinema history. It was seen by an estimated 743,000 people.
In 1971, he co-directed the British-Israeli drama film, Bloomfield (AKA The Hero) with actor Richard Harris. It tells the story of an ageing football player in Tel Aviv who navigates his final match and his love for Nira (Romy Schneider).Greenspun, Roger (9 March 1973). Harris Stars in and Directs 'The Hero,' Twilight of an Athlete:The Cast The New York Times. Retrieved on 13 January 2026. He also directed episodes of the popular television series "Lool" (Chicken Coop).Uri Zohar, Israeli Comedian-turned-rabbi, Dies at 86
In the 1970s, he also embarked on his Tel Aviv Trilogy, with ''Metzitzim (Peeping Toms) (1972) and Big Eyes. In 2022, these films were described by Haaretz film critic Uri Misgav as being "two of the best films ever made in Israel." The final film of the trilogy, Save the Lifeguard (Hatzilu Et HaMatzil) (1977), was his last mainstream film.
When Israel Television went on air, he became a program host and appeared in commercials. In 1977, he began wearing a kippa on the television game show he was hosting.
1978-2022: Religious figure He eventually withdrew entirely from Israel's popular culture scene to become a Haredi Jew and began to study in yeshiva. He became a rabbi in Jerusalem and immersed himself in Biblical scholarship.Uri Zohar, avant-garde Israeli director turned rabbi, dies He became active in the movement to attract secular Jews to religious orthodoxy, and used his entertainment skills to promote this objective.What I learned from a Jewish Movie Star
In 1985, he appeared in Renen Schorr's short film Wedding in Jerusalem, which documents the wedding of Zohar's son Ephraim to Alona, daughter of Arik Einstein.https://jfc.org.il/en/movie/53767-2/ Wedding in Jerusalem] Jerusalem Cinematheque - Israel Film Archive. Retrieved on 13 January 2026.
In the 1992 Israeli elections, Zohar directed the television broadcasts for the Shas party. He later directed a film about a successful dancer who embraces orthodox Judaism, mirroring his own story. The film was a success with Ultra-Orthodox audiences. Zohar had enlisted the help filmmakers Dani Rosenberg and Yaniv Segalovich to make it, and Rosenberg and Segalovich in turn made a documentary about him, Zohar: The Return (2018).Back from black: Uri Zohar returnsZohar – The Return
When asked in an interview about how he regarded his former career in entertainment, Zohar said that "I respect it, the way a mature adult remembers his childhood. But there's no escaping the fact that I was a child."
Awards and recognition In 1976 he was awarded the Israel Prize for cinema, which he declined. In 2012, Cinémathèque Française in Paris held a retrospective of Zohar's work. The event included lectures and screenings of all his major films. Zohar was described as one of Israel's most interesting film directors due to his exploration of manhood and machismo, male-female relationships and the impact of the military.Anderman, Nirit (24 September 2012). French Cinematheque to honor Uri Zohar with retrospective. Haaretz. Retrieved on 9 January 2026.
Personal life
In the early 1960s, Zohar was married to the singer Ilana Rovina for about two years. Later he married Elia Shuster, an actress who starred in the film Big Eyes (1974) that he directed.
Zohar and Alia, who lived in Jaffa after getting married and later became religiously observant and moved to Jerusalem, had seven children.
He was a close friend of Arik Einstein, with whom he made some of his most noted films. Einstein's two daughters, Shiri and Yasmin, married Zohar's sons, Ephraim Fishel and Shalom.Back from Black: Uri Zohar Returns, Jerusalem Post The wedding of Ephraim Fishel and Shiri was documented in Renan Shor's 1985 short film "A Wedding in Jerusalem." Another son, Itamar, who became secular, initiated the 2004 three-part series "Looking Inside" - a series in which Itamar examines the two worlds his father lived in, and they debate matters of faith, values and reconciliation between secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews. After several years Itamar returned to religious observance. The series was filmed in their Jerusalem home, as well as locations where Zohar lived and worked in Tel Aviv. Another son, Betzalel, managed the Migdal Or institutions of Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman. The youngest son, David, is a Jerusalem city council member representing the United Torah Judaism party. Zohar's only daughter, Ahinoam, is the subject of the song "Ahinoam Doesn't Know," which appeared on Erik Einstein's album "Pozy."
Death Rabbi Uri Zohar died on June 2, 2022, at the age of 86, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Jerusalem's Romema neighborhood. The funeral procession left from the home he lived in, accompanied by many mourners. He was buried in Har HaMenuchot cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. He was survived by his second wife Eliya Shuster, a former actress, and their seven children and numerous grandchildren.
Filmography Film YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer Notes 1962 The True Story of Palestine Co-directed with Nathan Axelrod and Joel SilbergWritten by Haim Hefer 1964 Hole in the Moon Written by Amos Kenan 1966 Moishe Air-Condition Written by Alex Maimon 1967 Three Days and a Child Co-written with Dahn Ben Amotz and Amatsia Hiuni 1968 Every Bastard a King Co-written with Eli Tavor 1968 Fish, Football and Girls Co-written by Talila Ben-Zakai, Avraham Deshe and Shaike OphirProduced by Chaim Topol 1970 Take Off (Hitromamut) Written by Talila Ben-Zakai 1971 Bloomfield (AKA The Hero) Co-directed with Richard HarrisWritten by Joseph Gross, Richard Harris and Wolf Mankowitz 1971 The Rooster (Ha-Tarnegol) Written by Dirk Clement and Haim Hefer 1972 Metzitzim Co-written with Arik Einstein 1974 Big Eyes Co-written with Yaakov Shabtai 1977 Save the Lifeguard (Hatzilu Et HaMatzil)
Television YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer Notes 1970-1973 Lool (Chicken Coop)Brown, Hannah (1 October 2020). Iconic tv shows ‘Lool’ and ‘Shablul’ mark 50th anniversaries The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 11 January 2026. Co-directed with Boaz DavidsonCo-written with Arik Einstein and Tzvi Shissel
Acting roles