Efim Raikin Ben-Ari was a Russian-born actor, stage director, and teacher, mostly in America.
Background
Ben-Ari, whose family name was Raikin, was born near Kiev (now in Ukraine). He took his father"s last name as his first name and called himself Raikin Ben-Ari, or "Raikin, son of a lion." After training at a polytechnic school in the sciences, Ben-Ari became interested in theatre.
Career
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. Early LIfe and 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. 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. Ben-Ari founded the Pargod Theatre, the only Hebrew-language theatre in America.
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, First Rate (at Lloyd's) Capone, and Combat!. Ben-Ari was appointed drama director of the Brandeis Institute in Simi Valley, California, where he taught for many years.
Membership
Other members of the company, including Ben-Ari, remained in the United States.