Shaike Ophir
Acting
Biography
Shaike Ophir (Hebrew: שייקה אופיר; November 4, 1928 – August 17, 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first mime. Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was born in Jerusalem. His family was Masortiim, and his Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in the city goes back to the mid-19th century. He studied acting as an adolescent but left school in the 1940s to enlist in the Palmach. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War he escorted convoys to the besieged city of Jerusalem and took part in naval battles. Thanks to his comic skills he was accepted to the Chezbatron, an army entertainment troupe. In the 1950s, he made a name for himself as a multi-talented performer. He even recorded a few hit songs during this period. During the late 1950s and early 1960s Ophir occasionally guest-starred in American TV shows such as Shirley Temple's Storybook and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (in the episode "The Waxwork," where he was billed as Shai K. Ophir). Ophir acted in 28 films, wrote, directed, and starred in several variety shows, and was an accomplished mime, appearing alongside Marcel Marceau. He reached the peak of his international fame in the title role of Ha-Shoter Azoulay (literally, Policeman Azoulay, translated as The Policeman), a film vehicle by Ephraim Kishon which won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Film (1972) and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award the same year. He also starred in other Ephraim Kishon films, including Ervinka, Blaumilch Canal and The Fox in the Chicken Coop, and the 1973 Moshé Mizrahi film Daughters, Daughters. In 1977 he starred opposite Melanie Griffith in The Garden. In 1985, Ophir starred in a stage adaptation of Janusz Korczak's children's novel King Matt the First, where he played seven different roles. The children's play was very successful and ran for three years. Over this period Ophir was diagnosed with lung cancer, to which he succumbed in 1987. Ophir was a theatrical director for HaGashash HaHiver. He also directed the Israeli movie Hamesh Ma'ot Elef Shahor, and wrote the screenplay for 4 Israeli movies. He wrote and performed many sketches and comedy routines, many of which are still popular in Israel today. He also did a series of Arabic-instruction TV programs that ran through the 1980s. He also appeared in the Chuck Norris film, The Delta Force. Ophir was married twice and had four children, two from each spouse. His daughter, Karin Ophir, is also an actress. Shaike Ophir, a heavy smoker, died from lung cancer in 1987.
Known For
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
Climax!
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Shirley Temple's Storybook is an American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by actress Shirley Temple. The series features adaptations of fairy tales like Mother Goose and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors, although one episode, an adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables, was meant for older youngsters. Temple's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season, "Mother Goose".
Shirley Temple's Storybook
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Einer wird gewinnen
A 707 aircraft jetliner, en route from Athens to Rome and then to New York City, is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists, who demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandos have been called in to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.
The Delta Force
Two comedians borrow 500,000 Israeli pounds from an entrepreneur who launders the mafia money via his night club in order to produce a musical "Awaiting Godo".
Half a Million Black
Ever in search of adventure, explorer Allan Quatermain agrees to join the beautiful Jesse Huston on a mission to locate her archaeologist father, who has been abducted for his knowledge of the legendary mines of King Solomon. As the kidnappers, led by sinister German military officer Bockner, journey into the wilds of Africa, Allan and Jesse track the party and must contend with fierce natives and dangerous creatures, among other perils.
King Solomon's Mines
900 years after a nuclear war in the USA, mankind is back to the stone ages. Amazon women rule the tribes, while the men are weak and dumb - either kept as slaves or living wild as animals. Only Korvis and a friend are intelligent enough to flee and found a tribe of their own. Will they manage to teach the women to love men again?
America 3000
Abraham, an old man, has a fruit garden in Jerusalem that is threatened by a number of people who want to buy him out or chase him off. One day, the old man finds a mute young woman (Melanie Griffith), confused after being attacked by thugs, wandering in his garden and he thinks she is actually an angel.
The Garden
A fatherless family immigrates to Israel from Egypt during the British Mandate period. The film traces the hardships the family suffers in the politically unstable country.
The House on Chelouche Street
In July 1976, an Air France flight from Tel-Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda. The Jewish passengers were separated and held hostage in demand to release many terrorists held in Israeli prisons. After much debate, the Israeli government sent an elite commando unit to raid the airfield and release the hostages.
Operation Thunderbolt
A TV film made as part of The Buick-Electra Playhouse.
The Fifth Column
Charles Hodgson is a British aristocrat who decides to become a thief as a way of getting at his twin brother, Earl, a security expert who has built a supposedly impregnable vault in Tel Aviv, which holds a cache of diamonds. For the caper, Charles enlists Archie, a heist expert, and Sally. He also becomes acquainted with an American woman, Zelda Shapiro, who is in Israel looking for a new husband.
Diamonds
Yasha is a Jewish stage magician who tours through eastern Europe while destroying his career through personal problems. He has one more chance at theatrical success, but he needs to do a brand new trick in a Warsaw theater.
The Magician of Lublin
Feature-length, live-action musical version of the classic fairy tale by Charles Perrault.
Sleeping Beauty
Amitz Dolniker, an Israeli politician who speaks way to much has a heart attack in the middle of his speech. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital the doctor orders him to "go someplace quite, rest, and don't make speeches". His young assistant immediately suggest they go to Switzerland, however Dolniker had taken a vow not to leave Israel unnecessarily, so he comes up with a different idea - going to a remote village where they have never heard of him, so he would not be asked to make any speeches. As they arrive, it turns out that not only the villagers have never heard of Dolniker, but they have also never heard of running water, electricity, phones, and most importantly: TV, Radio, and newspapers... so its only a matter of time before Dolniker or the villagers go bananas...
The Fox in the Chicken Coop
A good-natured but incorrigible layabout becomes embroiled in a plot to rob the Israeli lottery, all the while indulging in his boundless zeal for mischief and romance.
Ervinka
500000 Black 1977
500000 Black
Azulai is a policeman in Jaffa, whose incompetence is only matched by his soft-heartedness. His superiors want to send him to early retirement, but he would like to stay on the force, and the criminals of Jaffa don't want to see him leave either...
The Policeman
A slapstick comedy lampooning bureaucracy and the madness of everyday life in Israel centers on an escaped lunatic who digs up the streets of Tel-Aviv with a drill.