Moshe Ivgy

Ivgy was born in Morocco in 1953, one of seven children, and moved to Israel with his family during childhood.[1] His family initially lived in a transit camp near Migdal HaEmek, where he subsequently grew up.[5] His mother worked in tree planting for the Jewish National Fund, while his father, who had been an upholsterer in Morocco, worked in construction in Israel.[5]

At nine, Ivgy attended a religious boarding school; from eleven, he studied at a yeshiva in Tiberias before transferring to an agricultural boarding school.[5] Recalling his choice between religious study and acting, he said he wanted a life “in color.”[5] He served in a combat role in the Israel Defense Forces and began studying at the Nissan Nativ acting studio after his military service.[2] He later described acting as a carefully planned craft capable of moving or entertaining audiences and making them think.[5]

At age 26, after failing to secure a place in the major repertory theaters, Ivgy founded the Gypsy Theatre.[2] Its productions included Sweat—A Cycle of Distress, in which he performed alongside Ahova Keren.[2] His subsequent theater work included appearances at Beit Lessin, the Cameri, the Hasimta Theatre, London Theatre Café, the Khan Theatre, and Haifa Theatre.[6] His stage credits included American Buffalo, Of Mice and Men, Uncle Vanya, and The Captain Arthur Oi.[6]

An early breakthrough came in Ram Levi’s television drama Indian in the Sun, in which Ivgy played a military driver; viewers began recognizing him after its broadcast.[5] His major film breakthrough followed with Undernose in 1982, after which opportunities in cinema and theater expanded.[2] He progressed from supporting and sidekick parts to leading roles, with his North African background and low-key screen persona fitting the North African characters appearing in Israeli cinema.[1]

Ivgy’s film credits include Shuroo and Cup Final, both released in 1991, followed by Lovesick on Nana Street in 1995, Yom Yom in 1998, and Life Is Life in 2003.[1] Other films in which he appeared include The Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein and Dangerous Acts.[6] His television work includes Zehu Ze and Ha-Borer.[2][6]

In 2004, Ivgy starred in Joseph Cedar’s Campfire as a lonely Orthodox minivan driver and in Danny Verete’s Metallic Blues as a car salesman heading for Germany.[1] That year he also appeared in David Mamet’s Spartan.[1] His other screen credits include Steven Spielberg’s Munich and the Israeli film Hunting Elephants (2013).[7] By 2016, he was also known for his role in Zaguri Empire.[2]

Ivgy also appeared in Shiva, written and directed by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz and documented in a 2008 DVD edition.[8] He is among the actors credited in the 2009 DVD collection Five Films by Ram Levi, which contains Bread, A Crown on His Head, Indian in the Sun, The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter, and Khirbet Khizeh.[9] He is the father of actress Dana Ivgy.[1]

Ivgy received three Ophir Awards over a career encompassing popular cinema, critically recognized films, television, and theater.[2] His awards included an Israeli Film Academy best-actor award for Shuroo in 1990 and another for Lovesick on Nana Street in 1995.[6] In 2004, he won the Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actor for Metallic Blues and received a Best Actor nomination for Campfire.[7] He was described as taking on the late Shaike Ophir’s mantle as “Israel’s hardest-working actor.”[1]

Festival recognition began with a best-actor award for Night Film at the International Student Film Festival in 1986.[6] He received Jerusalem Film Festival best-actor recognition in 1991 for Shuroo and Cup Final, a Haifa Critics’ Circle award in 1994 for The Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein, and a special jury prize at the Mannheim film festival in 1996 for Lovesick on Nana Street.[6]

In 2000, Ivgy received tribute awards at the New York Israeli Film Festival and the Montpellier International Film Festival, the latter on October 10.[6] In October 2016, he received the Haifa International Film Festival’s Best Actor in a Feature Film award for The 90 Minute War.[10]

In February 2016, six women accused Ivgy of sexual harassment while working with him on films, television productions, and plays; he denied the allegations, saying, “I have never touched anyone inappropriately, man or woman.”[7] His Haifa festival award later that year drew criticism from women’s rights groups because of the publicly reported allegations.[10] Prosecutors filed charges in 2018 concerning alleged offenses against four women in 2012 and 2013.[11]

In January 2020, the Haifa Magistrate’s Court convicted Ivgy of two indecent-act offenses against one woman and acquitted him of other charges.[11] That August, it sentenced him to six months of community service, six months’ probation, and compensation of NIS 10,000; prosecutors had sought 15 months in prison.[12] In March 2021, the Haifa District Court accepted the prosecution’s appeal, overturned parts of the earlier ruling, convicted him of additional offenses, and returned the case for resentencing.[12]

In July 2021, Ivgy was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment, six months’ suspended imprisonment, and compensation totaling NIS 30,000; he began serving his sentence at Hermon Prison on September 29 and did not appeal.[3] He was released in March 2022 after serving about half a year.[4] The parole committee considered his acknowledgment of the offenses, remorse, treatment, prison conduct, and community rehabilitation plan, and the prosecution did not challenge his release.[4] The chair of the Na’amat women’s organization criticized the decision.[4]