Legendary stage actress Orna Porat dies, age 91

Born Irene Klein in Germany, she moved to Israel, converted, and became an Israel Prize-winning thespian

German-born Israel Prize winning actress Orna Porat died Thursday, aged 91.

Porat was born Irene Klein in Cologne, Germany, in 1924 to a Catholic father and Protestant mother and was a member of the Hitler Youth as a child.

She moved to Israel in 1947 after meeting her future husband, Joseph Proter, and converted to Judaism, changing her name to Orna Porat.

Porat was a legend of the Israeli stage, joining the Cameri Theater after her arrival in Israel and, over her career, playing key roles in productions of Mary Stuart and Jean D’Arc, among others.

In the 1960s, she established a children’s theater initially attached to the Cameri which eventually became independent.

She received the Israel Price for lifetime achievement in theater in 1979, the Israel Theater Lifetime Achievement award in 1997, and the EMET Prize for her contribution to art and culture in 2005.

Porat is to lie in state at the Cameri Theater on Friday morning, then be laid to rest at the Hadid Cemetery outside Tel Aviv, Israel Radio reported.