Makram Khoury

Makram Jamil Khoury, an Israeli-Arab actor, holds the distinction of being the youngest artist and first Arab to receive the Israel Prize, which is Israel's top civic honor. Khoury, born on May 30, 1945, in Jerusalem, was brought up in a Palestinian-Christian family. His parents, who were a judge and a teacher respectively, along with Khoury, fled to Lebanon during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, only to return a year later to the newly formed State of Israel. The family subsequently settled in Acre, a port city near Haifa. After completing high school in 1963, Khoury enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but later dropped out in his pursuit of an acting career. Throughout his substantial career in the Israeli film and theatre industry, he continued his involvement with the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv and the Haifa Municipal Theater where he has been a member for two decades. His acting legacy seems to have inspired his children as both his daughter, Clara Khoury, and son Jameel Khoury are known actors in the Israeli film industry.