Laurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in the United Kingdom after World War II. In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Harvey appeared in stage, film and television productions primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Harvey in 1973, photograph by Allan Warren
Harvey and Diane Cilento in the television play The Small Servant. Both made their U.S. television debuts in this production for The Alcoa Hour (1955).
Harvey (left) with Frank Sinatra, during filming of The Manchurian Candidate
Litvaks or Lita'im are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The term is sometimes used to cover all Haredi Jews who follow an Ashkenazi, non-Hasidic style of life and learning, whatever their ethnic background. The area where Litvaks lived is referred to in Yiddish as ליטע Lite, hence the Hebrew term Lita'im.
Portrait of Lithuanian yeshiva students
An Atlas of Northeastern Yiddish, by Dovid Katz. Cartography by Giedre Beconyte.