Bar Belfer, the actress who became famous at 17 for her role in Someone to Run With, has died at the age of 37. She passed away on Sunday 8 November, with her death reportedly attributed to "a severe epileptic seizure."
A family representative confirmed the news in an official statement: "With great sadness, we share in the deep mourning for the late actress Bar Belfer. At this difficult and painful time, the family wishes to allow her time and space to digest the loss and deal with the grief in privacy."
Her agent, Zohar Jacobson, later amended the statement to clarify the cause of death "for the avoidance of doubt."
Career and Early Life
Belfer landed her breakthrough role in the 2006 film Someone to Run With, an adaptation of David Grossman's novel. She played Tamar, a Jerusalem teenager who disappears and seeks shelter in a halfway house for runaways, while a boy who works at a pound tries to reunite her with her missing dog.
The film opened the Jerusalem Film Festival that year and earned Belfer a nomination for an Ophir Award, the Israeli equivalent of an Oscar, in the Best Actress category. The story was later adapted into a two-part television miniseries, for which she won the Israeli Television Academy Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries.
Recovery and Return to Acting
In 2010, while completing her mandatory service in the IDF, Belfer was involved in a serious car crash that left her in a coma for more than four months. The incident affected her ability to walk, talk and communicate, and she also experienced memory loss.
During her rehabilitation, she studied music and began writing her own material, later performing live. By 2016, she had returned to acting.
In a 2018 interview, she discussed the collision that changed her life: "I'm not minimising it, but that's life. I sound terribly optimistic - and no, I had a hard time, and I suffered, but now, when everything is going well and everything is normal and I'm doing well in life, and I live with my lover in an amazing place, and I work an amazing job, and I make art, then everything is fine. Why think about it?"
Later Work and Final Project
Belfer appeared in the television programmes Mama's Angel and The Malevolent Bride, as well as the feature film Don't Forget Me and several short productions.
Her final appearance was in the 2026 short drama About That Day, released just a month before her death.
