Arik Lavie ( he, אריק לביא; 9 March 1927 – 29 June 2004) was an Israeli pop-rock-folk singer and actor.

Early life

Lavie was born to a Jewish single mother named Edith Aubin, who gave birth to him at the age of 19. His father was a medical student from Riga who left him and his mother before he was born. His mother married a man named Frank Inselsbacher of the French Foreign Legion and he gave him his surname. In 1936, accompanied by distant relatives, he emigrated from Germany to Kfar Baruch in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

at the age of 9. His career began in 1945 in the Palmach

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

. In 1947 he joined the "Carmel" band. His extensive stage career, spanning decades, began in the 1950s. He acted in the

Cameri Theater The Cameri Theater ( he, התיאטרון הקאמרי, ''HaTeatron HaKameri''), established in 1944 in Tel Aviv, is one of the leading theaters in Israel, and is housed at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center. History The Cameri theater was found ...

and sang together with "The Three Strings", which specialized in shepherds' songs. During his career he recorded hundreds of songs, appeared on stage and played in musicals and films. He participated in many theater plays, several movies (e.g. '' Hill 24 Doesn't Answer'', '' Operation Thunderbolt'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 published a number of solo and non-solo albums (e.g. ). He was occasionally seen on primetime Israeli television in the days it had only one channel.

Career

Lavie had a very rich voice that allowed his band members to play simple musical roles and spend very little time on rehearsals. Thus, Lavie could give many concerts in the young state of Israel, when it had a small, poor population. In addition to Israeli folk music, Lavi was one of the first Israeli singers began to sing pop songs. His romantic song ''The Red Rock'' ( HaSela haAdom) was about Petra, the ancient Jordanian city. Popular in the 1960s (well before Israel and Jordan had a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

), the song encouraged young Israelis to sneak across the guarded border into Jordan to see the site, resulting in some deaths. James A. Michener fictionalized such a pilgrimage in the novel ''

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...

''. Among his famous songs are: "Song of the Locomotive", "Echo Song," "Autumn Song" ("All the rivers run into the sea"), "It happens", "old tune", "I'll sing you a song" and more. Lavie also renewed old Hebrew songs, including songs of the Palmach, in his album "The Moon and Sixpence". Lavie appeared many times before soldiers during the wars of Israel. During the somber "waiting period" before the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, he helped lift the national spirit by performing the song "Nasser's waiting for Rabin" with lyrics by

Haim Hefer Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...

. After the war, he recorded the song "We will not go again" ("Rachel Rai Rai"), expressing the great sense of victory in the war. After the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

, he recorded the "Song is not just words" and during the Lebanon war, he recorded the "Knight", both songs of protest against war and in support of peace. He participated in theater productions along with his wife, actress Shoshik Shani, and both played in movies. Arik Lavie is considered one of the finest performers in Hebrew. In recent years has been recognized even by singers and young artists, who renewed many of his songs. Lavie's last cinematic roll was in "Prophet on the run" directed by Tomer Ganihar. His last album was "Arik Lavie - My Way: Rare Recordings". The album contains rare recordings from the '70s, which Lavi edited before his death in 2004. Its theme song is a Hebrew version of the song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, translated according to Lavie's personal life story.

Death

He died in Petah Tikva on 29 June 2004 from a severe heart disease at the age of 77. He was buried at

Yarkon Cemetery Yarkon Cemetery ( he, בית העלמין ירקון) is the main cemetery for the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area of Israel. It is located within the Petah Tikva city limits, between the Yarkon River in the West, Highway 5 in the North, and the 491 ...

. He survived by his wife Shoshik, and two daughters. The College of Music and Production BPM, provides a scholarship in his name, to commemorate its musical legacy.

References

External links

*
Shoshik Shani and Arik Lavie collection
on the Digital collections of

Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library is a central academic library of the University of Haifa, and one of the largest in Israel. It is also one of the most progressive Israeli libraries in terms of service, collection, physical space, and libr ...

, University of Haifa {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavie, Arik 1927 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Israeli male singers Israeli pop singers Israeli rock singers Israeli folk singers Israeli male film actors Israeli male stage actors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Latvian-Jewish descent Israeli people of German-Jewish descent German Ashkenazi Jews 20th-century Israeli male actors Burials at Yarkon Cemetery