Yossi Banai

Yosef "Yossi" Banai (; April 13, 1932 – May 11, 2006) was a singer, actor in film and theater, songwriter, comedian, lyricist, and Israeli theater director. He was awarded the Israel Prize for Theater in 1998 and the Israeli Theater Award in 2004. Banai is considered one of the greatest performing artists in Israel.

Banai was born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era, and grew up in the neighborhood of the Mahane 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 Eviatar are musicians and 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 Nisim Aloni, and starred in the premiers of many of Aloni's plays. Banai also inaugurated famous roles in the plays of Hanoch Levine and Yaakov 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. 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 French for him by Naomi Shemer. Shemer also wrote several of her own songs for Banai. He died of cancer in Tel Aviv. He was survived by his wife and three sons (one of whom is Yuval Banai, lead singer of one of Israel's most influential pop rock bands Mashina).

Banai was born and raised at 1 Agas Street in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the market, to the Banai family, a poor and large family with a rich cultural background. His mother testified, according to him, that she raised children from one laundry to another. Banai did not study systematically, did not complete elementary school, and acquired his education on his own. Banai, along with his friends and his brother Haim Banai, performanced in non professional frameworks. He was influenced by the theater after sneaking into theater shows that came to his residential area, and under the influence of his older brother, actor Yaakov Banai. He joined the first program of the Nahal Band in 1951 as a performer.

During his military service, Banai studied at the acting studio of Phani Lubicz and even elongated his military service by two years in order to continue studying from her. At the end of his studies, Lubicz told him, "Yosef, I've thought about it, and I've come to the conclusion that you have nothing to seek in the theater". Nevertheless, Banai insisted on becoming a theater actor. He was accepted for studies at Habima Theatre acting school and joined the theater as an actor, initially in minor roles and later in significant character roles. In the midst of his twenties, he resigned from the Habima Theatre with the aspiration to be an independent actor not bound by a theatrical framework. He traveled to Paris, where he started being influenced by French culture, especially chansons. Upon his return to Israel, he started performing on theater and entertainment stages. He played in numerous theater productions at the Habima Theatre and most major theaters in the country, in plays such as Tel Aviv Hak'tana (Little Tel Aviv), The Government Inspector, A View from the Bridge, Eddie King, Namer Chabarburot, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Task of Life, Cain, Thirst and Hunger, and more. He frequently acted in the plays of Nisim Aloni, a playwright who greatly influenced him, including The King's Clothes, The Tailors of Jaffa, and The Bride and the Butterfly Hunter. In 1963, Aloni, Bana'i, and Avner Hizkiyahu founded Theater of the Seasons and staged Aloni's play The American Princess, as well as adaptations of works by Chekhov, Gogol, Fedor Dostoevsky, and others. However, the theater closed after about three years. In his last role in the theater, he played the character of King David, was in the play Keter Barosh by Yaakov Shabtai, at the Habima Theatre , for which he won the award for Best Actor at the Israeli Theater Awards ceremony in 2004.

Banai was the son of the first generation of the Banai family, the brother of the actors Yaakov Banai, Haim Banai, and Gabri Banai. He married Ilana, gave birth to their son Yuval Banai. He was the lead singer of the Mashina band. From his second marriage to Avivah, his sons Daniel and Ariel were born. Banai passed away on May 11, 2006, at the age of 74, due to cancer, and was buried the next day in the Givat HaShlosha cemetery. The audience in all the theaters stood for a minute of silence on the day of his death to honor his memory. In the same year, his last single, Tarnegol Kaparot, was released, with music composed by Micha Shtrit.

Banai's influence on Israeli culture was considerable. Artistically, he managed to leave a deep imprint on various creative fields over the years:

He is regarded, both by the audience and critics, as a theatrical actor with a dominant stage presence, excelling in dramatic plays (especially in roles of kings and nobility) as well as in comedic performances. He wrote numerous sketches, some of them also for others, creating a comedic language that influenced generations of entertainers in the country and also contributed to the spoken Hebrew language. He introduced many expressions and idioms into the language associated with the "White Dung Beetle Trio," such as "Working on us", "Is it radio?" and "The world is funny, so we laugh", which became commonplace in many people's speech. Nevertheless, he insisted on maintaining a high and respectful language in his works. He was a soulful singer who carefully selected texts from the best creators, performing them with a theatrical presentation. He "acted out" his songs, and his deep voice especially emphasized the lyrics. Additionally, Bannai and Naomi Shemer introduced French chansons to Israel, which were not well known in the country until then. After his death, many politicians and artists mourned him, referring to him as the "great Israeli artist of recent generations". Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister at the time, mourned him in a special statement issued by the government following his death, saying, among other things: "Yossi Banai was an exemplar of vast talent in directing, theater, satire, cinema, and singing. Yossi's unique voice was a central part of the story of the renewed Jewish state in Israel and Jerusalem".

In 1998, Banai was awarded the Israel Prize for "stage arts – theatre" for his contribution to Israeli theatre.