Yuval Zamir

Yuval Zamir ( he, יובל זמיר; July 15, 1963 – December 21, 2011) was an Israeli actor, voice actor, singer, writer and theatre director.

Biography

Born in Givatayim to a shoemaker and a housewife, Zamir began acting in children's plays at age 11 and then studied at Thelma Yellin High School. He then joined the choir at the IDF as a soloist. Before beginning his career, Zamir took vocal pedagogy classes under the guidance of Netania Davrath and later went to study further acting at Nissan Nativ Acting Studio.

In 1987, Zamir took part in a number of plays at the Habima Theatre and the Cameri Theatre. These include stage adaptations of '' King Lear'', ''Pied Piper of Hamelin'' and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. His success on stage had led him to star in Off-Broadway productions and he even directed plays of his own. On screen, Zamir appeared in several films, including the 1982 film ''Noa at 17''.

Zamir found his greatest fame as a voice actor mainly during the 1990s. He was internationally known as the original Hebrew voice of the title character in the '' Winnie the Pooh'' franchise. Other Hebrew dubbing roles Zamir performed included the Beast in '' Beauty and the Beast'', John Smith's singing voice in '' Pocahontas'', Hopper in '' A Bug's Life'', Tweedledum and Tweedledee in ''Alice in Wonderland'', Gus in '' Cinderella'', Alan-a-Dale in '' Robin Hood'', Henk in ''Alfred J. Kwak'', Jethro in ''The Prince of Egypt'' and more.

Zamir was also a talented singer, particularly in the field of opera. He was one of the few performers who worked on Yoni Rechter’s compilation of songs which were produced into an album. He has also sung in a number of stage and screen performances and has also provided the singing voices of some of the animated characters he dubbed.

Personal life

In 1992, Zamir married Carmel Ne'eman, who is the daughter of composer Amitai Ne'eman and the sister of singer Adi Ne'eman. They had two sons and a daughter.

In November 1999, Zamir was convicted of sexual and indecent assault towards male students while he was serving as a drama teacher at the Ironi High School. He was sentenced to four years in prison. At that point in time, the Hebrew voice of Winnie the Pooh was passed on to Saar Badishi. In 2003, Zamir was released on a period of rehabilitation and also came out as a gay man and after eleven years of marriage, Zamir and Ne'eman divorced when the former announced his sexuality. He then returned to acting and directing on stage in 2005.

Death

On December 21, 2011, Zamir died after suffering from complications from diabetes mellitus at the age of 48 and was laid to rest at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv. Before dying, he was able to alert paramedics that he was short of breath.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamir, Yuval
1963 births
2011 deaths
Male actors from Tel Aviv
People from Givatayim
Thelma Yellin High School of Arts alumni
Drama teachers
Israeli male dramatists and playwrights
Israeli male film actors
Israeli male stage actors
Israeli male voice actors
Israeli theatre directors
Israeli gay actors
Israeli gay writers
Israeli gay musicians
Israeli LGBT dramatists and playwrights
Israeli LGBT singers
Israeli people convicted of indecent assault
Israeli prisoners and detainees
Jewish Israeli male actors
Jewish Israeli musicians
Jewish Israeli writers
Jewish opera singers
Gay dramatists and playwrights
Gay singers
Gay Jews
LGBT theatre directors
Deaths from diabetes in Israel
Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery
20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Israeli male actors
21st-century Israeli male actors
20th-century Israeli male opera singers
21st-century Israeli male opera singers
20th-century Israeli male writers
21st-century Israeli male writers
20th-century Israeli Jews
21st-century Israeli Jews
20th-century Israeli LGBT people
21st-century Israeli LGBT people