Alon Aboutboul, one of Israel’s most popular and acclaimed actors, collapsed and died on Habonim Beach near Zichron Ya’acov on Tuesday morning.
He received CPR from lifeguards but could not be revived. He was 60 years old.
Aboutboul was born in Kiryat Ata to parents of Algerian and Egyptian descent and was known as both a handsome movie star with real screen presence and an accomplished actor. He was prolific and versatile, with over 100 credits in movies and television, and often acted in international and Hollywood films.
His rugged good looks helped him get all kinds of tough-guy roles, and he often portrayed soldiers and crooks, but he played romantic leads and appeared in comedies as well. He also had a distinguished stage career, appearing in Hamlet for the Habima Theatre.
Movie career
His movie career began in 1980, and his breakout role was in the 1986 movie Ricochets, Eli Cohen’s film about an IDF infantry platoon during the First Lebanon War, which was hailed for its realism. It was originally intended as a training film for soldiers but was later developed into a drama.
He wasn’t afraid to play unsympathetic macho men, as he did in Yossi Madmoni’s A Place in Heaven (2013), and brooding, violent gangsters in such films as Wild Dogs (2007) and Mars Turkey (2001). But he also used his charisma to great effect in lighter movies and won an Ophir Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2003 for his role as a photographer in love with a young widow in Savi Gabizon’s Nina’s Tragedies.
In the comedy Forgiveness, he was especially funny as an arrogant mafioso who keeps his cash buried in a stable. In 2008, he shared a Best Actor Award with his co-star Moshe Ivgy at the Jerusalem Film Festival for his role as a junk dealer who lives on the fringes of society in Out of the Blue.
While he was at the top of the Israeli movie industry, he also had a thriving career abroad. Among his credits was a key role in The Dark Knight Rises, and he appeared in many Hollywood movies including Body of Lies, London Has Fallen, Every Time We Say Goodbye, Rambo III, and Munich.
His television career was equally stellar, and he most recently appeared in The German as a high-ranking Mossad officer. Other important Israeli television roles in his career included Shabbats and Holidays (Shabbatot Ve’Hagim), Harem, and Sirens. Abroad, he appeared in Homeland, Snowfall, Twin Peaks, The Leftovers, and FBI: International, among others, often playing terrorists, Israeli intelligence agents, and gangsters.
He was in plays and musicals, including the London production of The Band’s Visit, and released his first single, “Password,” in 2023.
Aboutboul was also involved in politics, speaking out against corruption and running for Knesset on the Labor Party slate in 2006.
He is survived by his wife, Shir Bilia, and their four children. They lived in Israel and Los Angeles.
At the time of his death, he was in pre-production on a movie called Jacob’s Dream that he was going to co-write, co-direct, and star in, which is described on the Internet Movie Database as the story of an Israeli hit man in Los Angeles who discovers that his latest victim was his childhood friend from Jerusalem, and who then returns to Israel to give him a proper burial. It sounds like it would have combined different sides of the actor’s personal and professional life.
Aboutboul was scheduled to start filming a new series for Yes this week, and the company is adding several of his movies and television series to their library in a tribute available to their subscribers, including the series, The German and Strike, and the movies Body of Lies, The Dealers, Forgiveness, Leylasede, and London Has Fallen.
Eulogy
Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar eulogized the actor on X/Twitter, saying, “I was deeply pained to hear of his sudden death. Last night I watched an interview with him, where he talked about filming a movie he recently participated in, and the passion for the profession that radiated from him was evident even after so many years in the field.
Alon was an Ophir Award and Television Academy Award winner and over the years portrayed a wide range of characters to which he brought depth and emotion, leaving a deep mark on Israeli culture. May his memory be blessed.”