Uri Gavriel

Uri Gavriel was born in 1955 in Magdiel

Uri Gavriel was born on 3 April 1955 in the Magdiel transit camp to parents who immigrated from Iraq. His family moved to Jaffa, then to Holon, and later to the Pardes Katz neighborhood of Bnei Brak, where he still lives.

The frequent moves made school hard for him. He studied lathe work at a vocational high school but left after a year and a half and took odd jobs. From 1977 to 1979 he studied acting at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.

He began acting at 17 in a neighborhood theater founded by Yossi Alfi. His first lead role on television came in 1975 in the series Gam Anu Shoftim, and his first film lead came in 1982 in Mitahat La'af, which earned him an award at the Haifa International Film Festival. He also appeared on stage at Beit Lessin, the Cameri and the Haifa Theatre.

In 2005 he won the Ophir Award and a Best Actor prize at Karlovy Vary for What a Wonderful Place. In 2018 he played Philip the Apostle in the film Mary Magdalene.