Raikin Ben-Ari

Efim Raikin Ben-Ari (15 July 1897 – 2 January 1968) was a Russian-born actor, stage director, and teacher, mostly in America. He co-founded the Habima Theatre in Moscow in the 1920s, acted on Broadway, founded the only Hebrew-language theatre in America, and taught and directed for four decades.^[1]

Early LIfe and Career

Ben-Ari, whose family name was Raikin, was born near Kiev (now in Ukraine).^[2] He took his father's last name as his first name and called himself Raikin Ben-Ari, or "Raikin, son of a lion."^[3] After training at a polytechnic school in the sciences, Ben-Ari became interested in theatre.^[4] He co-founded the famed Habima Theatre in Moscow, a Hebrew-language theatre, at a time when revolutionary Russia did not look kindly on Jewish-oriented activities.^[5] The company produced a landmark production of The Dybbuk, a play which has gone on to be a staple of Jewish theatre.

In the 1920s, Ben-Ari and the Habima company traveled to New York and produced The Dybbuk on Broadway. A schism formed in the company and some members went to Palestine, reestablishing Habima there, where it continues (now in Israel) to this day as the premiere Hebrew theatre company.^[6] Other members of the company, including Ben-Ari, remained in the United States. Ben-Ari founded the Pargod Theatre, the only Hebrew-language theatre in America.^[7] A follower of the work of Constantin Stanislavski, Ben-Ari subsequently taught acting in Erwin Piscator's theatre workshop at the New School for Social Research, where his students included Walter Matthau, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Tony Franciosa, and Rod Steiger.^[8]

Eventually, in 1948, Ben-Ari moved to California and established a workshop there and also appeared in film and television roles in productions as disparate as Adventures of Superman, Al Capone, and Combat! . Ben-Ari was appointed drama director of the Brandeis Institute in Simi Valley, California, where he taught for many years.^[9] He died of a heart attack while visiting his brother in Moscow on January 2, 1968. He was survived by his wife Anna ("Nussia") and daughter Renah.^[10]

References

1. New York Times, 9 January 1968
2. New York Times, 2 January 1968
3. Raikin Ben-Ari funeral eulogy, recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io1R8SIwjOg
4. Raikin Ben-Ari funeral eulogy, recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io1R8SIwjOg
5. Atkinson, Brooks, Value of an Idea, New York Times, 25 August 1957
6. Atkinson, Brooks, Value of an Idea, New York Times, 25 August 1957
7. New York Times, 2 January 1968
8. New York Times, 2 January 1968
9. Gordon, Mel, Stanislavsky in America. Routledge, 2009
10. New York Times, 2 January 1968