Lior Raz

Raz was born in Ma'ale Adumim, an Israeli settlement of 40,000 settlers in the West Bank, seven kilometers from Jerusalem. He was raised in the city, and in Jerusalem. He is Jewish, the son of Mizrahi Jewish parents from Iraq and Algeria.[3][4] His Iraq-born father served in Shayetet 13 and in Shin Bet before later running a plant nursery.[3][5] His mother was born in Algeria, and is a teacher.[3] Raz grew up speaking Arabic with his father and grandmother at home, and with Arab workers, who were his playmates, at his father's plant nursery.[5][4][3]

After Raz graduated from high school at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces and became a commando in the elite undercover counter-terrorism unit known as Sayeret Duvdevan.[5][3] He also served in the Duvdevan Unit in the reserves for 20 years.[5]

For three years, until Raz was 19, he had a girlfriend named Iris Azulai.[5][3] In October 1990, a Palestinian Arab stabbed her to death with a 15-inch knife in Jerusalem.[5][3] The man who stabbed her was later released from prison in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in which 1,027 prisoners were released in order to obtain the release from captivity of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held prisoner by Hamas for five years.[5][3]

In 1993, after his military service, Raz moved to the United States, and was hired by a security contracting firm as Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodyguard.[4] In an interview with Israel Hayom he said: “the company turned to me since they knew my military background, for me it was the most glamorous thing, to be the watchdog of Schwarzenegger and his wife".[6]

When Raz returned to Israel at age 24, he studied at Nissan Nativ Drama School in Tel Aviv.[4]

In his early acting years, Raz acted in various plays, such as Don Juan at Gesher Theater, Macbeth and The Teenagers. He also played small roles on Israeli TV series. In 2004, he played a police investigator in Michaela, and 'referee Ben Shabat' in Adumot. In 2005 he appeared as Shimi in his first feature film Gotta Be Happy. In 2008 he appeared in television drama Srugim as Yisrael, and a year later in comedy-drama Mesudarim as a Shin Bet agent, and as Maor in Noah's Ark.[4] In 2011 he played a police unit commander in Nadav Lapid's drama film Policeman, and as Asa'el in the political drama Prime Minister's Children alongside Rami Heuberger.[4]

In 2012, Raz portrayed Nissan Title in yes psychological thriller spying-drama The Gordin Cell, and appeared in the film The World is Funny as Barak.[4] In 2013, he played the role of the police commander in the fourth season of the crime drama series The Arbitrator, and in 2014 appeared in the film The Kindergarten Teacher.

In 2014, he created with Haaretz journalist Avi Issacharoff the critically acclaimed political thriller television series Fauda, in which Raz stars as Doron Kabilio, the commander of an undercover counter-terrorism Mista'arvim unit.[4] In 2016, the show won six awards, including Best Drama Series, at the Israeli Academy Awards.[7] In December 2017, The New York Times voted Fauda the best international show of 2017.[8] In 2018, the show won 11 Israeli TV Academy Awards, including best TV drama, best actor for Raz, and best screenplay, casting, cinematography, recording, and special effects.[9]

In 2018, Raz played a Magdala community leader in the film Mary Magdalene, written by Helen Edmundson.[10] The same year, he appeared in Operation Finale, playing Isser Harel, the Director of Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad.[4]

Raz is married to actress Meital Barda, and they have three children. They live in Ramat HaSharon, a suburb north of Tel Aviv.[3][11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lior Raz.

• Lior Raz at IMDb