Biographie
R. Ben Efraim was born on a kibbutz north of Tel Aviv and studied at Hebrew University. He began his career producing entertainment and public affairs programs for Israeli National Radio before editing the Armed Forces newspaper. During a 1964 research trip to New York, he met seasoned television producer Dan Enright, then an executive at Screen Gems, the TV division of Columbia Pictures. Enright, who had grown up in British Palestine, quickly befriended Efraim, offering guidance and support. It was on Enright's recommendation that Efraim embarked on producing his own films eight years later. Operating from London, he assembled a modestly budgeted political thriller, "The Jerusalem File," featuring Nicol Williamson, Bruce Davidson, and Donald Pleasence, which was distributed by MGM. Returning to New York, he partnered with former MGM executive vice-president Benjamin Melniker. Between 1974 and 1976, they produced two action films: "Mitchell," starring Joe Don Baker, Martin Balsam, Linda Evans, and Merline Olsen, and "Shoot," featuring Cliff Robertson, Ernest Borgnine, and Henry Silva. In 1977, Efraim relocated to Los Angeles and entered a three-way partnership with longtime friend Dan Enright and Enright's partner, Jack Barry. Leading Barry & Enright Films, he first produced "Search And Destroy," starring Perry King, Don Stroud, and George Kennedy, followed by "Private Lessons." Ben Efraim currently resides in Brentwood near his Unity offices, living in a Tudor-style manor house that his English wife, Anne, finds comfortably reminiscent of those in her homeland. The couple has two sons, Adam and Daniel.
