Abraham Ronai (1932-2005) was a stage and screen actor. Born András Rónai in Budapest, Hungary, he was already performing onstage as a child in the city’s famous Uncle Lakner’s Children’s Theatre. During the Nazi invasion, Ronai went into a hiding in a Christian household and was later saved, along with thousands of other Jews, thanks to the resourcefulness of Giorgio Perlasca who was subsequently awarded the honorary title of Righteous Among the Nations. After the war, Ronai returned to acting and appeared in numerous films and operettas. In 1947, he rounded off the main cast of the critically-acclaimed film Somewhere in Europe [aka ‘It Happened in Europe’] (Géza von Radványi), at the heart of which is a group of orphaned children trying to survive in post-WWII Hungary.
In 1949 Ronai moved to Israel. In the IDF, he became a member of the military entertainment troupe, The Carmel Band. After completing his service, he joined the Ohel Theatre company where he would remain for the next decade. Then in the early 1960s, he moved onto Habima National Theatre that became his artistic home for the vast majority of his career. Some of his stage roles included Mr. Bumble in Oliver! (1966), the military vicar in Mother Courage and her Children (1975), Rasches in Winter Funeral (1978), and countless other Habima productions including Twelve Angry Men (1995).
In film, Ronai is fondly remembered for playing the mayor’s assistant, Mr. Kosla, in The Big Dig (Ephraim Kishon), and as council officer Sarvesky in Kazablan (Menahem Golan, 1973). Ronai was also a regular ensemble cast member in director George Obadiah’s films where he was repeatedly typecast as the wealthy Ashkenazi father. He appeared in a total of five Obadiah features including Ariana (1971), Nurith (1972), Sarit (1974), Midnight Entertainer (1977), and The Auntie from Argentina (1984).
Highlights of his other film credits include: Brennender Sand [aka Burning Stands] (Raphael Nussbaum, 1960), Joseph The Dreamer (Alina Gross and Yoram Gross, 1962), Topele (Leo Filler, 1968), The Great Telephone Robbery (Menahem Golan, 1972), Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), The Vulture (Yaky Yosha, 1981), and Curtains (Itzhak Wolf, 1998) that won Best Short at the Haifa International Film Festival.
