Sasson Gabai

Sasson Gabai
Sasson Gabai during Ophir Film Award Ceremony in 1997
Born	24 November 1947 Baghdad, Iraq
Other names	Sasson Gabay
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–present

Sasson Gabai (Hebrew: ששון גבאי‎‎; born 24 November 1947) is an Israeli actor.^[1] Winner of an Ophir Award,^[2] Asia Pacific Screen Award (nominated),^[3] European Film Awards^[4] and Jerusalem Film Festival^[5] in 2007 as Best Actor in a highly acclaimed Israeli film The Band's Visit.^[6]

Biography

Gabai was born in Baghdad in 1947 to an Iraqi Jewish family. During his childhood he immigrated together with his family to Israel. After serving his mandatory military service in the Israeli Defense Forces he studied theater and psychology at the Tel Aviv University.^[7] After graduating he began playing in the Khan Theater in Michael Alfreds group. Afterwards he played in several stage productions at the Hacameri Theater, the Be'er Sheva Theater and the Beit Lessin Theater, in which he currently is one of the permanent staff. Among the many plays he participated in were Servant of Two Masters, Catch 22, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, and Rain Man. Gabai also played in the 1989 children's musical Peter Pan as Captain Hook.

Through the years Gabai played in various Israeli and international films: Sipurei Tel-Aviv,Time for Cherries, for which he won an Ophir award, Rambo III, the Escape from Saudi Arabia, Made in Israel, Aviva, My Love and many others.

Through the years Gabai also played in the various productions in the Israeli television. Among others he played in series The Haim Neighborhood (שכונת חיים), Siton (סיטון), Late Night Stories (סיפורים לשעת לילה מאוחרת), and in the drama series The Kastner Trial (משפט קסטנר) in which he played Rudolf Kastner, he was a host in the comedy series Zehu Ze!, and played a cameo role in the popular comedy series Krovim Krovim, in addition to many other productions. Gabai resides in Tel Aviv, is married and has five children.

Career

• In 2007 Gabai starred in the critically acclaimed film The Band's Visit, a role for which he won an Ophir Award and a European Film Award.
• In 2008 he played the role of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in the American TV mini-series House of Saddam.
• In 2009 Gabai began to play the lead role in the TV series Polishuk, a role for which he won an Israeli Television Academy Award in the category of best actor in a comedy series.
• In 2011 he played the lead role in a film Restoration, a role for which he was nominated for an Ophir Award.

Film and television credits

List of film and television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Or Min Hahefker	Shaya
1987	The Impossible Spy	General Haled[8]
1988	Rambo III	Mousa
1991	Time for Cherries or Cherry Season	Choko	Original title: Onat Haduvdevanim
1991	Not Without My Daughter	Hamid
1992	Blink of an Eye	Khalil
1998	Escape: Human Cargo	Suliman Nasir Rasi	TV Movie
1999	Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol	Minister Oman
2001	The Order	Yuri
2006	Aviva My Love	Oded Zar
2007	The Band's Visit	Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya	Original title: Bikur Ha-Tizmoret
2008	Hello Goodbye	Police chief
2009-	Polishuk	Minister Polishuk	TV series
2011	When Pigs Have Wings	Jafaar
2013	Hunting Elephants	Eliyahu	Original title: Latzud Pilim
2014	Gett – The Trial of Viviane Amsallem
2015	Shtisel

References

1. "SASSON GABAI BIOGRAPHY". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
2. "'Zero Motivation' gets 12 Ophir nods". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
3. "INAUGURAL APSA NOMINEES ANNOUNCED". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
4. ""Sasson Gabai named European Film Awards' best actor". Ynet.com". Ynetnews.com. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
5. "Jonah Hill to Receive the Israel Film Festival's Achievement in Film Award". The Hollywood Reporter.
6. "The Bands visit: The Casts". Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
7. ""The Band's Visit" Official Press Kit." (PDF). Retrieved 2015-02-02.
8. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093248/

External links

• Sasson Gabai at the Internet Movie Database