Orna Banai

Orna Banai was born in 1966 in Beersheba

Banai was born in Beersheba and grew up in Omer. Her father was a District Court judge in Beersheba, and her mother was a grammar teacher and a school principal. She belongs to the Banai family of artists, and her brothers are the singers Meir Banai and Eviatar Banai.

She studied theater at a high school in Beersheba. After her army service she studied acting at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in Tel Aviv, then began performing stand-up comedy.

In 1993 she first played the character Limor on television, later bringing her to the shows Action and Rak BeIsrael. From 2003 she appeared in the satire show Eretz Nehederet, and from 2010 in Matzav HaUma. In 2005 she starred in Ima'lle, which she helped write, based on her own pregnancy.

She was a member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council for the Green Party from 2003 to 2008. She has a son, Amir, born in 2003, and adopted a daughter, Mika, in 2008. In 2011 she came out as a lesbian, and she lives in Tel Aviv.