Yossi Banai

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Yossi Banai with Rivka Gur in View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller , 1990

Yossi Banai Hebrew יוסי בנאי, (born April 13, 1932 in Jerusalem , League of Nations mandate for Palestine ; died May 11, 2006 in Tel Aviv , Israel ) was an Israeli chansonnier , actor and writer.

Life

Memorial plaque on Yossi Banai's home in Tel Aviv

Yossi (actually Yosef) Banai was born in Jerusalem during the British Mandate and grew up in a simple family near the Machane Jehuda market in a family that produced numerous artists. He dropped out of elementary school after the sixth grade to become an actor and acquired self-taught knowledge.

In military service he became one of the first members of the Nachal troupe and later joined the Habimah Theater. He has worked with most of the theater companies in Israel in countless productions. There was a particularly close cooperation with the dramaturge Nissim Aloni . Banai was on stage in several world premieres of his pieces, as well as in the works of Hanoch Levin .

As a cabaret artist , he wrote several revues , most of which he performed as a soloist. He also wrote skits for the comedian trio Hagashash Hachiver (lit. "The pale tracker"), many of their word creations have entered the Israeli colloquial language. As a film actor, Banai was seen together with Chaim Topol , Gila Almagor and Shaike Ophir in Ervinka by Ephraim Kishon .

As a singer, Banai became known for his personal style of presentation. He particularly distinguished himself in the performance of chansons by Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel , which Naomi Shemer translated for him from French into Hebrew and also wrote his own songs for him.

After suffering from cancer, Banai died at the age of 74 in Tel Aviv and was buried in the cemetery of Kibbutz Giwat Hashloscha . He left behind his wife and three sons, including Yuval Banai, the singer of the rock band Mashina .

In 1988 he was awarded the Israel Prize in the theater category.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Shlomo Erel: New Roots: 50 Years of Immigration of German-Speaking Jews in Israel Bleicher Verlag, 1983, p. 152. [1]
  2. List of the 1988 award winners (Hebrew)

Web links

Commons : Yossi Banai  - collection of images, videos and audio files