Anecdotes

Was the last surviving star of Ben-Hur (1959).

Was fluent in Hebrew, English, French, and Italian.

Her first husband, Nachman Zerwanitzer, was an Israeli irrigation engineer. They owned an apartment in Tel Aviv.

Was the eldest of three children born to Reuben and Yocheved Neuberg, Polish Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel when they were teenagers.

At the 32nd Academy Awards in 1960, she presented the Academy Award for Best Special Effects. Bob Hope introduced her as "the beautiful Israeli actress Miss Haya Harareet, better known as Ben's Her".

In October 1958, she and Sophia Loren were the top choices for the title role in L'histoire de Ruth (1960). The part went to fellow Israeli actress Elana Eden.

In March 1960, MGM cast her in a movie they were planning to make about Charlemagne. She was going to play the role of a passionate woman who was caught in a love triangle with the Frankish monarch and his son. A Ted Richmond production, the epic was going to be "the first story-film ever to be made in Cinerama". The studio hoped it would begin filming later that year in a foreign country with a cast of thousands headed by famous actors. In April, Harareet, Robert Douglas, and George Hamilton made screen tests directed by Richard Thorpe. In the early 1960s, the film was postponed and eventually canceled and Harareet left the studio.

Was under contract to MGM for four years (1958-1961). When that deal ended, she declined a new three-year contract with them because she did not want to settle in Hollywood.

Otto Preminger offered her the role of Karen (eventually given to Jill Haworth) in Exodus (1960), but she said she could not accept the part without permission from MGM.

According to gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, MGM refused to loan Harareet to other studios until after the release of Ben-Hur (1959).

Was considered for Sophia Loren's role in MGM's Lady L (1965).

In 1958, Italian moviegoers voted her "Actress of the Year" for her performance in the Italian film La donna del giorno (1957).

Fellow dark-eyed, raven-haired actresses Irene Papas (in 1956) and Claire Bloom (in 1957) were considered for the role of Esther before William Wyler remembered meeting her at the Cannes Film Festival and cast her in the part.

A screen test she made in color for the Italian-French film L'Atlantide (1961) was included in DVD releases of Ben-Hur (1959).

"Harareet" ("mountainous") is the Hebraized form of her original family name, Neuberg, which means "new mountain" in German.

In 1959, MGM's plans for her included a biopic of Hannah Senesh, a Hungarian Jewish poet and World War II hero.