Oded Kotler

Oded Kotler (; born 5 May 1937) is an Israeli actor, director, artistic director, and author. Kotler is a recipient of the Israel Prize in the field of Performing Arts.

He is best known for his role in the film Three Days and a Child (1967), for which he received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male.

Biography Born in Tel Aviv, Kotler began his theatrical engagement early, acting and directing in high school. At 17, he secured his first commercial role in the play Tea and Sympathy in the Ha'Ohel Theatre.

His mandatory military service as an actor and director in the Central Command Entertainment Troupe. Following his discharge, he performed in the renowned "Batzal Yarok" troupe and acted in major venues like the Ha'Ohel and Habima Theatres. Oded Kotler and Liora Rivlin in the play The Banality of Love (Hebrew title: Ha'banaliyut Shel Ha'ahava), by Savyon Liebrecht, directed by Avishai Milshtein, at the Beit Lessin Theater, 2009. Kotler has consistently used the theatre as a platform for social commentary, notably staging the play Muvtal Nolad (An Unemployed is Born) in 2005, criticizing the growing materialism and indifference in Israeli society. His commitment to politically charged art was also evident in his work at the short-lived Herzliya Ensemble Theatre (2011–2013).

Work in theater, film, and television As a director, Kotler has initiated and staged a vast repertoire of plays across Israeli theaters. Notable directorial credits include seminal Israeli works such as CHefetz, The Labor of Life by Hanoch Levin, Games in the Backyard by Edna Mazia. He also directed the controversial play Hebron, which examined the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a dual perspective.

Personal life In his youth, Kotler was the partner of actress Gila Almagor. He was also married to the poet Tirza Atar, and later married actress Liora Rivlin, with whom he has twins: the actress Nina Kotler and the cinematographer Amnon Kotler.

For over forty years, he has been married to Ordit, a cousin of Tirza Atar and the daughter of Akiva Atzmon, who was the commander of the Gadna Command. The couple has one son, Daniel Kotler.

Selected filmography Three Days and a Child (1967) Every Bastard a King (1968) My Michael (1976)

Awards

Five Kinor David Awards (David's Harp) Council for Culture and Art Award Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in the film Three Days and a Child (1967) Knesset Speaker's Quality of Life Prize (1983) Margalit Prize (1984) Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) from the Government of France (1990) "Outstanding Director" Award from the Cameri Theatre (2005) Rosenblum Prize for the Performing Arts (2006) Israel Theatre Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2007) Lifetime Achievement Award in Cinema from the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School (2008) EMET Prize in the category of Culture and Arts: Directing and Acting in Theatre (2017) Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israeli Actors Guild (AMI) (2017) Israel Prize in the field of Theatre (2022) "Golden Porcupine" Award for Lifetime Achievement (2023)