From Silence to Success – an interview with Marni Woolf

By Penina Taylor

A rising star on the Israeli acting scene, no one would guess that Marni Woolf (nee Schamroth) didn’t speak until she was five years old. Labeled as autistic and doomed to never be a fully functioning adult, this young lady defied the odds (and the labels) to become a working actress.

Marni says she didn’t have the traditional Orthodox upbringing. Her mom was raised Irish Catholic and converted to Judaism before she married Marni’s dad, who is a baal teshuvah (returnee to Judaism) from South Africa. They met in Baltimore where they both worked in the same hospital – he was a doctor, and she was/is a nurse. It’s no secret to anyone who knows the Schamroths that Marni grew up in a home full of hospitality. She explains that her childhood home was always open to guests – which is still true today. And this hospitality does not just extend to friends. Any given Shabbat you can find every type of person at the table – ultra orthodox, modern, secular, people in the process of converting to Judaism and non-Jews as well.