Israeli actors’ agent Perry Kafri dies
Veteran Israeli actors’ agent Perry Kafri, 71, died from cancer at Ichilov Hospital on Saturday.
Born in Morocco, Kafri immigrated to Israel with her family as a baby. After her army service, she worked on the production side of several movies until she established her agency, Perry Kafri Actors Agency Ltd., 40 years ago.
Her client list reads like a Who’s Who of the Israeli entertainment industry and includes stars such as television host Dvir Benedek, stage and film diva Evgenia Dodina, Shlomi Elkabetz (currently starring in the HBO series Our Boys), Sasson Gabay (star of dozens of films, as well as the Broadway adaptation of The
Band’s Visit), singer/actor Gidi Gov, Alon Aboutboul (The Dark Knight Rises) and dozens of others. Ronit Elkabetz, the legendary Israeli actress who died several years ago was a longtime client, as was Kafri’s husband, actor Ezra Kafri.
Kafri was one of the key agents who professionalized the industry in Israel. While in the US aspiring actors wait tables, in Israel even extremely successful actors had to have day jobs, often menial ones, to make ends meet. Thanks in part to Kafri, Israeli actors are now paid far better and work according to professionally written contracts.
Many of her clients eulogized her on social media, including Oscar-winning director Guy Nattiv who worked with her when casting his films. He wrote on Facebook: “You were the spiritual mother of Israeli actors and filmmakers. You came to every premiere, every film festival, you always called to ask and were interested in how you could help. You were there when it was difficult, you always kept in touch with dialogue, humanity and compassion.”
Kafri is survived by her husband, daughter and two grandchildren.