Haya Harareet

Haya Harareet was born in 1931 in Haifa

Haya Neuberg was born in Haifa in 1931 to Reuben and Yocheved Neuberg, who had come from Poland when they were young. Her father worked as a government official. At school she received the surname Hararit, later spelled Harareet.

She joined military entertainment troupes and performed for soldiers during the War of Independence. She studied at the drama school of the Cameri Theater and began her career on its stage, including the play Kazablan in 1954.

Her first feature film was Hill 24 Doesn't Answer in 1955, and she received a special mention at the Cannes Film Festival for it. She then worked in Italy and Paris, and was cast as Esther in Ben-Hur opposite Charlton Heston. She signed a 4-year contract with MGM, becoming the first Israeli actress in the Hollywood studio system.

She later acted in The Secret Partner and L'Atlantide in 1961 and The Interns in 1962. She felt she was being typecast and left her MGM contract early. She co-wrote the screenplay for Our Mother's House in 1967.

She settled in England with director Jack Clayton, whom she married in 1984, and earned a political science degree from the London School of Economics. Clayton died in 1995. She died at her home in Marlow in 2021.