Palestine with her family at the age of one. She grew up in Tel Aviv and trained as an actor at Habima National Theatre’s Acting Studio, before taking her first professional steps onstage at the satirical Broom (‘matate’) Theatre. After that, Kedar performed on just about every repertory theatre stage in Israel.
Highlights of her stage credits include Ubo Roi, Blood Wedding, Krum, and After the Fall with the Cameri Theatre; The Heiress, Filumena Marturano (aka The Best House in Naples) and Numa Emek with Beit Lessin Theatre; and The Cemetery Club, Arsenic and Old Lace, Morris Shimel, What are we Going to Do About Jenny?, and Oedipus Rex with Habima National Theatre.
In 1995, Kedar won the Israeli Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Beit Lessin’s production of Chametz (written and directed by Shmuel Hasfari.)
In film, Kedar is fondly remembered as Sonia (the mother of permanently randy Benzi) in the Lemon Popsicle film franchise including: Lemon Popsicle (Boaz Davidson, 1978), Going Steady (Boaz Davidson, 1979), Hot Bubblegum (Boaz Davidson, 1982), Private Popsicle (Boaz Davidson, 1982), Baby Love (Dan Wolman, 1983), and Up your Anchor (Dan Wolman, 1986). “Now don’t you go drinking no hash out there,” a stern warning Sonia gives her son in Private Popsicle, became one of the franchise’s best-known and most heavily quoted lines.
Kedar is a two-time Ophir Award winner for Best Supporting Actress for her film roles in The Revenge of Itzik Finkelstein (Enrique Rottenberg, 1993), and Fire Bids (Amir Wolf, 2015).
Highlights of her other film credits include Dream Boat (Israel ‘Puchu’ Wissler and Amatsia Hiuni, 1964), The Prodigal Son (Yosef Shalhin & Alfred Steinhardt, 1968), The Dreamer (Dan Wolman, 1970), Floch (Dan Wolman, 1972), and Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1978).
In 2012 Kedar was named that year’s Israeli Theatre Prize’s recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Her daughter is film editor Tali Helter-Shenkar.
