Norman Issa

Norman Issa (Arabic: نورمان عيسى , Hebrew: נורמן עיסא ; born 17 June 1967) is an Arab-Israeli actor, director in cinema, theatre and television.

Norman Issa was born and raised in Haifa, Israel, to a Maronite Christian-Arab family. He studied acting at Beit Zvi. He is married to Jewish-Israeli playwright Gidona Raz, with whom he has three sons. Lear and Sean Issa are actors. The couple jointly founded the multicultural Elmina Theater in Jaffa, Israel.[ 1] They reside in Jaffa.

Issa has acted in many plays by William Shakespeare at the Haifa Theatre and Cameri Theatre. He worked at The Arab-Hebrew Theater together with fellow Arab-Israeli actor Yousef "Joe" Sweid. He was the main protagonist of the Israeli television sitcom Arab Labor, created by Arab-Israeli journalist Sayed Kashua.[ 2]

In 2015, Issa refused to perform in a settlement in the Jordan Valley. In response, Israeli Minister of Culture Miri Regev threatened to shut down Israeli government funding to the theater that Issa founded.[ 3] [ 4]

At the 2016 Haifa International Film Festival, Norman Issa and Moshe Ivgy were awarded the prize for Best Actor in a Feature Film, for The 90 Minute War.[ 5]