Mark Ivanir

Mark Ivanir was born in 1968 in Chernivtsi

Ivanir was born in 1968 in Chernivtsi, then in the Soviet Union, to a Jewish family. The family moved to Israel in 1972 and settled in Pardes Katz in Bnei Brak. His parents taught English and German, and his maternal grandfather, Meshulem Surkis, was a Yiddish writer and actor.

After his army service he briefly studied medicine, then spent two years at a circus school and worked as a clown in Europe and at a circus in Paris. He then trained in acting with Nissan Nativ and later studied in London under Philippe Gaulier.

He acted at the Cameri Theater and the Israeli Opera and joined the founding team of the Gesher Theater. There he played leading roles and translated and adapted plays into Hebrew. His first film role was in Iron Eagle II in 1988.

In 1993 he played Marcel Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. His later films include The Good Shepherd, A Late Quartet, Entebbe and Emilia Pérez. On television he appeared in Homeland, Barry, The New Pope, For All Mankind and Beauty and the Baker, and he voiced characters in video games.

He is married to Maya Raz, a broadcaster on Army Radio, and they have 2 daughters. The family lives in Los Angeles.