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Norman Issa
Born (1967-06-17) 17 June 1967 (age 56)
Haifa, Israel
OccupationActor
Years active1998–present
SpouseGidona Raz
Children3, including Lear Issa, Shon Issa

Norman Issa (Arabic: نورمان عيسى, Hebrew: נורמן עיסא; born 17 June 1967) is an Arab-Israeli actor, director in cinema, theatre and television.

Biography

Norma Issa was born and raised in Haifa, Israel, to a Maronite Christian-Arab family. He studied acting at Beit Zvi. He is married to Jewish-Israeli playwright Gidona Raz, with whom he has three sons. Lear and Sean Issa are actors. The couple jointly founded the multicultural Elmina Theater in Jaffa, Israel.[1] They reside in Jaffa.

Theater, television and film career

Issa has acted in many plays by William Shakespeare at the Haifa Theatre and Cameri Theatre. He worked at The Arab-Hebrew Theater together with fellow Arab-Israeli actor Yousef "Joe" Sweid. He was the main protagonist of the Israeli television sitcom Arab Labor, created by Arab-Israeli journalist Sayed Kashua.[2]

In 2015, Issa refused to perform in a settlement in the Jordan Valley. In response, Israeli Minister of Culture Miri Regev threatened to shut down Israeli government funding to the theater that Issa founded.[3][4]

Awards and recognition

At the 2016 Haifa International Film Festival, Norman Issa and Moshe Ivgy were awarded the prize for Best Actor in a Feature Film, for The 90 Minute War.[5]

Filmography

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.mouse.co.il/shows/articles/1.3417076
  2. ^ Shani, Ayelett (2013-08-01). "Playing Sayed Kashua: Actor Norman Issa Feels Like the Third Brother of Arabs and Jews". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  3. ^ "Arab Israeli actor Norman Issa refuses to cross the Green Line". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  4. ^ Levy, Gideon (2015-06-11). "The Jewish State Has No More Room for 'Good Arabs'". Haaretz. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  5. ^ "The award winners- Haifa International Film Festival 2016". Haifa International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
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