Yigal Naor

Yigal Naor was born in 1958 in Givatayim

Naor was born in 1958 in Givatayim to Jewish parents who had come from Baghdad, Iraq. His grandmother raised him in his first years, and Arabic was his first language. He later said this background helped him play Middle Eastern characters.

He studied theater at Tel Aviv University but left after 2 years. He acted at many Israeli theaters, including Habima, the Cameri and Beit Lessin. For the play Yehu in 1992 he won the Rosenblum Prize.

In film, he played headmaster Tissona in Saint Clara in 1996 and won an Ophir Award. From 2005 he appeared in international films such as Munich, Rendition, Green Zone and 300: Rise of an Empire.

On television, he played Saddam Hussein in House of Saddam in 2008, a BBC and HBO production. He also appeared in Homeland, Fauda and the HBO film Oslo.