Haya Harareet

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Haya Harareet

Harareet in 1960

Native name ‫הררית חיה‬

Born Haya Neuberg

(Hebrew: ‫)חיה נויברג‬

20 September 1931 (age 87)

Haifa, Mandatory Palestine(now Israel)

Nationality Israeli

Other names Haya Hararit

Haya Harareet-Clayton

Occupation Actress

Years active 1955–1974

 Spouse(s) Nachman Zerwanitzer

(divorced)

Jack Clayton (1984–1995) (his death)

Haya Harareet (Hebrew: ‫ ;חיה הררית‬born Haya Neuberg; 20 September 1931) is

an Israeli actress, perhaps best known for playing Esther, Charlton Heston's love interest in Ben
Hur (1959).[1]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
 3Personal life
 4Filmography
 5References
 6External links

Early life[edit]
The first of three children, Harareet was born in Haifa, in what was then Mandatory
Palestine (now Israel).[2] Her parents, Reuben and Yocheved Neuberg, emigrated to Israel
from Poland when they were young.[2] Her father worked for the government in Tel Aviv.[2] She
received the surname Hararit (later changed to Harareet), which means "mountainous" in
Hebrew, at school.[3]

Career[edit]

Preparing for a play in Israel, 1954

In the trailer for Ben-Hur (1959)

In a press conference for Ben-Hurin Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1960

She began her career in Israeli films with Hill 24 Doesn't Answer (1955), which was nominated
for the Palme d'Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. She played opposite Virna
Lisi in Francesco Maselli's The Doll that Took the Town (1957), an Italian film. Her major role as
Esther in Ben-Hur (1959) remains her most widely seen performance in international
cinema. Variety, in its review of Ben-Hur, praised Harareet's performance:
Haya Harareet, an Israeli actress making her first appearance in an American film, emerges as a
performer of stature. Her portrayal of Esther, the former slave and daughter of Simonides,
steward of the House of Hur, is sensitive and revealing. Wyler presumably deserves considerate
credit for taking a chance on an unknown. She has a striking appearance and represents a
welcome departure from the standard Hollywood ingenue.[4]
Then came 1961's L'Atlantide [fr] (Journey Beneath The Desert, aka The Lost Kingdom), directed
by Edgar G. Ulmer and co-starring Jean-Louis Trintignant. She appeared opposite Stewart
Granger in Basil Dearden's film The Secret Partner (1961), and she played the role of Dr.
Madolyn Bruckner in The Interns (1962).
She co-wrote the screenplay for Our Mother's House (1967) from the novel of the same name
by Julian Gloag.

Personal life[edit]
Harareet's first husband was Nachman Zerwanitzer, an Israeli irrigation engineer.[5] They lived in
an apartment in Tel Aviv and were divorced sometime before 1961.[6]
Harareet's second husband was the British film director Jack Clayton. They were married
in Wycombe District, Buckinghamshire, England, in 1984.[7]