Name, Surname: Lior Ashkenazi
Date & Place of Birth: December 28, 1969 Ramat Gan - Israel
Date of Aliyah: His family made Aliyah from Turkey in 1964
Schools Attended: Studied acting at Ben Zvi Art School
Profession: Actor
CV:
Lior Ashkenazi was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and grew up in the Neve Yehoshua neighborhood. His parents are Sephardic Jews from Istanbul. His father, Shmuel, worked in a printing house and his mother, Victoria, was a housewife. His parents spoke Ladino at home, so Ladino was Ashkenazi’s first native language. At the age of 16, due to problems at school, he moved to Kibbutz Regavim. He served in the Nahal Brigade as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces
Lior studied acting at Ben Zvi Art School. He started as an actor in Beersheva and Habima theaters after his graduation in 1994. He played leading roles in many plays under the direction of Zipi Pines at the Beit Lessin Theater. He also acted at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv for a short time. The part which brought him major fame was in "Late Marriage" with Ronit Elkabetz in 2001. He received great praise for his role in "Hearat Shulayim / Footnote", the movie which brought the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes in 2011 to Joseph Cedar. He was twice named and awarded Best Actor at the Israel Cinema Academy for his performances in these two films.
He co-starred with actor Richard Gere in the movie "Norman" in 2016. Ashkenazi received the Ophir Award for Best Actor for his role in the 2017 movie "Foxtrot". The film participated in the 90th Academy Awards in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. In November 2018, Ashkenazi starred in William Shakespeare's play "Tempest". The production of this play was co-produced by the Old Globe Theater and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He played the former Israeli prime minister Yitshak Rabin in the movie "7 Days at Entebbe" in 2018. He also continues to perform in TV humor programs.
Ashkenazi first married Shira Farber with whom they had a daughter. He has another daughter born in 2012 from his second marriage (December 2011) with producer Maya Amsellem.
Outstanding and Lasting Contribution /Reasons for Selection:
Lior Ashkenazi, as a multi-award-winning and successful artist of Israeli theater and cinema, has made a name for himself outside of his country and has successfully represented Israel.
Şalom Magazine / Issue 57 / June 2016 – Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation (İKSV)'s Guest Jury Member Lior Ashkenazi / Elda Sasun
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