R. Ben-Ari, a well-known actor and one of the original founders of Habimah in Moscow, before that world-famous ensemble left the Soviet Union, ultimately to become the National Theater of Israel, died in Moscow this week, according to information received here today. He was 68.
Born in Moscow, he came to the United States with the Habimah when that group first toured this country in 1926, but, unlike other members of the troupe, stayed on here. As a Hebrew actor with Habimah, he was especially known for his role in “The Dybbyk,” the play for which Habimah was widely hailed. Mr. Ben-Ari appeared here on the Yiddish stage and in English on television. He became a well-known theatrical director and wrote the history of the Habimah Theater in Yiddish. He also lectured and wrote widely, mostly in the leading Yiddish and Hebrew newspapers in the world. More recently, he was lecturer on drama at the Brandeis Institute in California. He had gone to Moscow to visit a brother, and was stricken with a heart attack there.
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