Biography

Porat was born Irene Klein in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, in 1924. Her father was a Catholic and her mother a Protestant, but she chose atheism and socialism in her youth. In 1934 her family moved to Porz

Porz

Porz is a city district or Stadtbezirk of Cologne, Germany. It is situated on the right side of the Rhine in the south-east of the city...

, where she attended high school. During these years she was a member of the Hitler Youth

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...

, although her family opposed this affiliation.

She attended drama school and began her stage career at a repertory theater in Schleswig

Schleswig

Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...

. There, she became acquainted with the writings of Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...

 and Franz Werfel

Franz Werfel

Franz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...

 and the poetry and plays of Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

, and discovered the truth about the atrocities of the Nazi regime.

Porat met her husband, Joseph Proter, in Schleswig. He was an officer from the British Mandate of Palestine in the Jewish Brigade

Jewish Brigade

The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy...

 of the British Army. In 1946, she moved to Palestine with Proter, and married him (in a civil ceremony). She converted to Judaism later, in 1957, and they held a Jewish ceremony before adopting two children.

After being refused by the HaBima and Ohel theaters, she was accepted by the Cameri Theater

Cameri Theater

The Cameri Theater , established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center....

, where she took her Hebrew name. She appeared there for many years, until 1984.

After the major financial and artistic crisis in the Cameri in 1958, Porat was appointed to the theater’s administrative board.

In the early 1960s, she spent three years in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 studying children’s theater. Upon her return to Israel she founded a children’s theater, under the wing of the Cameri. In 1970, the children’s theater became independent. Porat directed several productions. She retired from managing the Children’s Theater after nineteen years. In her honor the theater was renamed the Orna Porat Theater for Children and Youth and she remains its honorary president.

She helped establish ASSITEJ

ASSITEJ

ASSITEJ, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, was established in 1965 as an international alliance of professionals involved in theatre for children and young people...

, the international children's theater association.

Awards and honors

• Porat won the Kinor David prize, awarded by Yedioth Ahronoth
  Yedioth Ahronoth
  Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
  
  , on three occasions; in 1970, 1974, and 1980.
• In 1979, she received the Israel prize
  Israel Prize
  The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
  
   for her lifetime achievement in theater.
• In 1997, she received the Israel Theater Lifetime Achievement award.
• In 2005, she won the EMET Prize
  EMET Prize
  The Emet Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an annual Israeli prize given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and significant contribution to society....
  
   for science, art, and culture, awarded by the prime minister of Israel.
• Other awards received by her include the Brenner Prize
  Brenner Prize
  The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation.It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner and was first awarded in 1945....
  
  .

In 2005, she was voted the 151st-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet

Ynet

Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...

to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.