Josie Katz (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ג'וזי כץ; born August 14, 1940) is an Israeli singer, actress, dancer and painter who received the Bonei Zion Prize in 2021 for her contributions to arts and culture.

Biography

Katz was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Pennsylvania. She made Aliyah at age 19, and resided in the kibbutzim Gesher HaZiv and Urim. In the early sixties she moved to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

Career

In 1964 she met musician

Shmulik Kraus Shmuel "Shmulik" Kraus ( he, שמוליק קראוס; July 1, 1935 – February 17, 2013) was an Israeli pop-rock singer, composer, and actor. Kraus, one of the pioneers of Israeli music, underwent various personal crises in the course of his care ...

, who later on became her partner and who inspired her to start singing. In the beginning of her career she sang mostly in English in different clubs, and Kraus would accompany her. The same year Katz recorded her first song in Hebrew, "

Dona, Dona "Dona Dona", popularly known as "Donna, Donna", is a song about a calf being led to slaughter, written by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin. Originally a Yiddish language song "Dana Dana" (in Yiddish דאַנאַ דאַנאַ), also known as "Do ...

", arranged by Pisi Osrovitz and produced by Kraus. In 1966 Katz, Kraus and Israeli singer

Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( he, אָרִיק אַייְנְשְׁטֵייְן, ; 3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Is ...

formed The High Windows. The group was very successful, and mixed pop music and rock elements in their songs. The group went on a tour in the United Kingdom, and Katz was the main soloist, among other reasons because she was singing in her mother tongue – English. Despite their success, The High Windows released only one album of the same name. With the band's break-up in 1968, Katz released a song named "The Homeland's Birthday" (יום הולדת למולדת) which received a bad reaction, and then returned to the US with Kraus. In 1970 Katz returned to Israel to participate in Havurat Lul's television series, and later on in the movie Shablul directed by Boaz Davidson, along with

Uri Zohar Uri Zohar ( he, אורי זוהר; 4 November 1935 – 2 June 2022) was an Israeli film director, actor and comedian who left the entertainment world to become an Orthodox rabbi. Biography Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv. His parents were Polis ...

and

Shalom Hanoch Shalom Hanoch ( he, שלום חנוך) (born September 1, 1946) is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer. He is considered to be the father of Israeli rock and modern Israeli music in general, both of which have been profoundly influe ...

. In 1997, after fifteen years in which she didn't work as a singer, Katz participated in Nathan Cohen's album "Road Station", in renewed recordings for songs by The Pure Souls. In 1999 she returned to Israel after living in the US, and performed along with Hanan Yovel and

Uzi Hitman Uzi Hitman ( he, עוזי חיטמן; June 9, 1952 – October 17, 2004) was an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, musician, actor, director and television personality. Biography Uzi Hitman was born in Giv'at Shmuel and lived all his life in ...

in different concerts.

Personal life

In 1982, after she suffered violent abuse by her partner

, she left Israel and moved to live in the United States with her two children, Ben and Shem. In the US she married David, a senior manager in a company owned by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

. In 1990, her husband was killed in a car accident while the couple were driving in separate cars, one following the other. She returned to Israel in 1999 and has been battling cancer since 2020.

Discography

* The High Windows (החלונות הגבוהים) (1967) * The Good, the Bad and the Maiden (הטוב הרע והנערה) (1972) * Alone Together and Alone Alone (לבד ביחד ולבד לבד) (1975) * Listen (a collection) (התשמע קולי) (2000) * Melting in Time (with

Barak Weiss Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, ...

) (נמס בזמן) (2006) * Carried by the Wind (cover) (עלה נישא ברוח) (2019) * And Now it's Good (single) (ועכשיו כבר טוב) (2020)

Filmography

* Shablul (שבלול-snail) (1970) * Boys and Girls (השמלה) (1970) * Take Off (התרוממות) (1970) * The Great Telephone Robbery (שוד הטלפונים הגדול) (1972) *

Rocking Horse __NOTOC__ A rocking horse is a child's toy, usually shaped like a horse and mounted on rockers similar to a rocking chair. There are two sorts, the one where the horse part sits rigidly attached to a pair of curved rockers that are in contact wit ...

(סוסעץ) (1978) *

Naor's Friends ''Naor's Friends'' () is an Israeli television sitcom created by Naor Zion for the Israeli Channel 10. The series premiered on November 14, 2006 and series 3 started airing on April 5, 2011. The Israeli comedian Naor Zion completely wrote and di ...

(החברים של נאור) (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Josie People from Pittsburgh Bonei Zion Prize recipients Israeli film actresses Israeli stage actresses Israeli expatriates in the United States Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli rock singers Israeli pop singers 20th-century Israeli women singers 21st-century Israeli women singers