Rivka Michaeli ( he, רבקה מיכאלי; born 14 April 1938) is an Israeli actress, comedian, television hostess, and entertainer.

Early life

Michaeli was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, British Mandate of Palestine (now

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

). Her father's family is of Georgian-Jewish descent, whereas her mother comes from the

Rivlin Rivlin ( he, ריבלין) is a primarily Jewish family with origins in Austria and Eastern Europe, which became established in early 19th century Palestine (now Israel). There are also branches of the family in several other countries. The family ...

family and of

Austrian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewis ...

descent. Michaeli attended the

Hebrew University Secondary School Hebrew University High School ( he, התיכון ליד האוניברסיטה), commonly known as ''Leyada'' (literally "next to"), is a semi-private high school in West Jerusalem, established in 1935 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The s ...

Career

By age 14, she was singing on

Israel Radio ''Kol Yisrael'' or ''Kol Israel'' ( lit. "Voice of Israel", also "Israel Radio") is Israel's public domestic and international radio service. It operated as a division of the Israel Broadcasting Service from 1951 to 1965, the Israel Broadcastin ...

. Michaeli performed her military service at the Army Radio. In the 1960s, her first show on stage was with

Yossi Banai Yosef "Yossi" Banai ( he, יֹוסֶף "יֹוסִי" בַנָאי; April 13, 1932 – May 11, 2006) was an Israeli performer, singer, actor, and dramatist. Biography Banai was born in Jerusalem during the Mandate era, and grew up in the neighbor ...

. She met future composer and

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

recipient

Ehud Manor Ehud Manor (Hebrew: אהוד מנור; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, h ...

in the 1960s, when she was emceeing the dance troupe of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and he applied to join the troupe. Impressed by his musical knowledge, she contacted Israel Radio, which offered him a job editing musical programs, and ultimately accepted a number of songs he produced for broadcast. In 1974 she was part of the cast of the satirical program ''Nikui Rosh'' ("Head Cleaning"). Subsequently, she was the host of ''Siba L'mesiba'' ("Reason for a Party"), the most popular television program broadcast on Friday evenings, as well as its successor, "''Sof Shavua''" ("Weekend"). She also performed at the Habimah and Cameri theaters, acted in a television series, and appeared in 16 films, broadcast on radio, recorded albums, moderated song festivals, and twice hosted

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. She was awarded a prize for her life's work by the Israeli Film and Television Academy, and also a prize for her contribution to radio. In 1991, ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' called her: "one of Israel's most popular television hosts", and in 1995 ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

'' called her "one of the country's most popular entertainers".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michaeli, Rivka Living people Israeli stage actresses Israeli female comedians Israeli television presenters Israeli women television presenters Israeli entertainers People from Jerusalem Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Georgian-Jewish descent 1938 births Israeli radio presenters Israeli women radio presenters Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli radio actresses 20th-century Israeli actresses