Biography

Shaike Ophir (Hebrew: שייקה אופיר; November 4, 1928 – August 17, 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first mime. Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was born in Jerusalem. His family was Masortiim, and his Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in the city goes back to the mid-19th century. He studied acting as an adolescent but left school in the 1940s to enlist in the Palmach. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War he escorted convoys to the besieged city of Jerusalem and took part in naval battles.