Biography
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Born
13 April 1932
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Born In
Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Israel
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Died
11 May 2006 (aged 74)
Yossi Banai (1932 – May 11, 2006) was an Israeli performer, singer and dramatist.
Banai was born in Jerusalem, and grew up in the neighborhood of the Mahne Yehuda market. He was one of the more prominent members of a family celebrated for producing several famous performers and musicians: his brothers Gavri, Ya'akov and Haim are actors, his son Yuval and nephews Ehud, Uri, Me'ir and Evyatar are singers (some of whom occasionally act), and his niece Orna is an actress and comedian.
Banai was one of the first members of the IDF's famous troupe of performers, the Nahal troupe. He dropped out of school in sixth grade to join the theatre, studied acting under Fanny Lovitch and eventually joined the company of Habima theatre. Throughout his lifetime he collaborated with most of the active theatre companies in Israel performing in countless productions. He had a particularly close relationship with playwright Nissim Aloni, and starred in the premiers of many of Aloni's plays. Banai also inaugerated famous roles in the plays of Hanoch Levine and Ya'akov Shabtai.
Banai himself wrote several cabaret style revues, which he typically performed solo. He also wrote and directed comic sketches for the comedy trio Hagashash Hachiver, one of whose members was his brother, Gavri Banai.
As a singer, he was famous for his personal presentation, smoky voice and penchant for performing French chansons. Some of his revues consisted of renditions of the songs of Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens, which were often translated from the French for him by Naomi Shemer. Shemer also wrote several of her own songs for Banai.
In 1998 Banai won the Israel Prize for his contributions to Israeli theatre.
He died of cancer, in Tel Aviv. He is survived by his wife and three sons.
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