Yossi Banai and his family, via the "Lev Ha-Ir" Community Center, Jerusalem

The actor Yossi Banai was born on 05 October 1932 in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood of Jerusalem to a poor family with many children. After finishing elementary school he continued studying on his own. As a youngster Yossi Banai, together with his brother Haim and friends organized amateur shows. He used to sneak into plays that were being performed in Jerusalem and thus his interest in theater grew. Under the influence of his older brother, Yaakov Banai, Yossi was among the first to join the Nahal troupe as an entertainer. During the fifties and sixties he directed a number of programs for the Nahal troupe. He wrote part of the entertainment programs where he and RivkaMichaeli appeared and later brought in his brother Gavri as part of the “Gashash Hahiver”. After he finished his army service he studied acting at the studio of Fanny Lubitz and was later accepted at the “Habima” acting school. That is where his acting career took off. He began with minor acting roles and later graduated to major ones. When in his twenties Yossi Banai resigned from Habima hoping to become an independent actor. He went to Paris where he was influenced by French culture and its chansons. Upon his return to Israel, Yossi Banai began to appear on stage both in the major theaters and in the entertainment world all of which turned him into a household name and much loved by his audiences. He took part in many of the plays of Nissim Aloni and was influenced by him: “The Kings New Clothes”, “Gypsies of Jaffa”, “The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter”. From his stay in Paris, Yossi Banai retained a special love for the songs of Jacques Brel and Georges Baranes, which Naomi Shemer translated for him into Hebrew. His wonderful performance of these songscaused them tobecomehits amongst the Israeli public and very quickly they turned into classics. Though Yossi Banai left his native city with his induction into the army and his work as an actor in Tel Aviv, he retained a special place in his heart for his childhood in Jerusalem thus dedicating the song, “I, Simon and Little Moies” to that period in his life. Yossi Banai used to praise his late mother, Bechora, for all that she did to instill values and love in her children despite the difficulties she encountered in her life. In 1998 Yossi Banai was awarded the Israel Prize for Theater and as the Best Actor of the year in 2005. On the 11 May, 2005 Yossi Banai passed away after a long illness. Yossi Banai left his mark on Israeli culture as a result of his warm personality and special talent that was evident in the various roles that he portrayed on the Hebrew stage. Read more