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 career. He appeared in several films, including ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Hole in the Moon
''Hole in the Moon'' ( he, חור בלבנה; Hor B'Levana) is a 1964 Israeli avant-garde-satiric movie directed by Uri Zohar.
The film was heavily influenced by the French New Wave, particularly the films of Jean-Luc Godard. It was a response ...
'', and composed songs for other performers, such as
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 ...
. He was also known for his music for children based on the lyrics of
Miriam Yalan-Shteklis
Miriam Yalan-Shteklis (also Miriam Yalan-Stekelis) ( he, מרים ילן-שטקליס) (21 September 1900 – 9 May 1984) was an Israeli writer and poet famous for her children's books. Her surname, Yalan, was an acronym based on her father's name ...
.
Biography
Kraus was born in the
Nahalat Ahim quarter of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He was one of four brothers. His mother, Rosa, was a housewife, and his father, Musa, was a driver. Kraus began his career in the arts by teaching tap dance in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
. After serving in the
Israeli Navy
The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
, he worked as a merchant seaman. Kraus married
Josie Katz, who eventually divorced him and left the country in the early 1980s to develop an independent career. In March 1971, Kraus was arrested for illegal gun possession after threatening Israeli soldiers sent to evict him from a building he had constructed on a plot near
Nebi Samuel, which he said he had inherited from his father. According to the authorities, the Ottoman deed he held was not valid. On February 17, 2013, Kraus died after being hospitalized with
swine influenza
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As ...
.
Music career
Kraus began to sing at the end of the 1950s along with Abraham Reichstadt (known as Avi Ofarim, before inclusion of
Esther Ofarim
Esther Zaied, better known by her married name Esther Ofarim ( he, אסתר עופרים; born June 13, 1941), is an Israeli singer. She came second in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " T'en va pas", representing Switzerland. Aft ...
). He composed and performed the "prairie house", a song written in memory of his father, who was active in the establishment of Kibbutz
Beit HaArava
Beit HaArava ( he, בֵּית הָעֲרָבָה, lit. ''House of the Arabah, Arava'') is an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. Located near the Dead Sea and Jericho at the eponymous Beit HaArava Junction, the intersection of Highwa ...
.
In the early 1960s, he met Josie Katz, later his wife, who came to Israel from the United States to volunteer at a kibbutz. He became her partner and produced her as a club singer in Eilat and Tel Aviv. In 1966, he, Katz and
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 ...
established
The High Windows band. Kraus composed all the group's songs, pop songs and rock that were innovative for their time.
In the early 70s, Kraus participated in recording albums of Arik Einstein. He composed songs to Einstein ("When you cry, you're not pretty"),
Arik Lavie ("It Happens"), to Katz band ("Ballad for a Kibbutz deserter") and the "Good, the Bad and the Girl" group ("Days of Cinema").
In 1971, he was charged with illegal gun possession and spent time in prison. During his incarceration, he wrote songs for his first solo album, The State of Israel vs. Kraus Shmuel. One song, “Hot Friday,” was banned from the airwaves because it was about smoking hashish. A color video clip was also disqualified because Kraus appears in it smoking cannabis.
In 1975, Kraus and Josie Katz put out an album of songs based on the poems of Miriam Yalan-Shtekelis.
Awards and recognition
Israeli astronaut
Ilan Ramon
Ilan Ramon ( he, אילן רמון; , born Ilan Wolfferman ; June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. Ramon was a Space Shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission o ...
chose his song “Hatishma Koli” to be played while he orbited earth on the Columbia space shuttle in 2003.
Israeli musical pioneer Shmulik Kraus laid to rest
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Filmography
Discography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Shmulik
1935 births
2013 deaths
Israeli composers
Israeli male film actors
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
20th-century Israeli male singers
Israeli rock singers
Israeli male television actors
Jewish Israeli musicians
Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Infectious disease deaths in Israel
Deaths from influenza
Burials at Yarkon Cemetery