Haya Harareet

Born in Palestine before the inception of the Israeli state in the city of Haifa, she first distinguished herself by winning one of the first beauty contests in the nascent Israel. 'Haya Harareet' (qv) (also spelled Hararit) made her debut in 'Thorold Dickinson' (qv)'s film _Hill 24 Doesn't Answer (1955)_ (qv) ("Hill 24 Doesn't Answer"). The landmark Israeli film, mostly in English, is also the first feature-length production to be shot and processed entirely in Israel, and made for international distribution. The film was an official selection at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival and Harareet won an award for her role in the film. She plays Miriam Mizrahi, a fourth generation, dark-eyed and beautiful Sabra, working for the underground.Best-known for her role as Esther, opposite 'Charlton Heston' (qv) in 'William Wyler' (qv)'s film classic _Ben-Hur (1959)_ (qv), she also played in 'Francesco Maselli' (qv)'s _The Doll That Took the Town (1957)_ (qv) ("The Doll that Took the Town") with 'Virna Lisi' (qv), _Edgar G. Ulmer''s _Journey Beneath the Desert (1961)_ (qv) ("Journey Beneath The Desert", AKA "The Lost Kingdom")with 'Jean-Louis Trintignant' (qv), and 'Basil Dearden' (qv)'s _The Secret Partner (1961)_ (qv) with 'Stewart Granger' (qv). She cowrote the screenplay for _Our Mother's House (1967)_ (qv) which starred 'Dirk Bogarde' (qv).Ms. Harareet was also credited as a presenter for 'Best Special Effects' at the 32nd Annual Academy 'Awards' (qv) in 1960.She was married to the British film director 'Jack Clayton' (qv) until his death in 1995.::Danny Yarhi