Amit Farkas-Yonas (; born ) is a Canadian-born Israeli actress and singer. She is best known as the protagonist of the Israeli television series ''

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

''.

Biography

Melissa Amit Farkas was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, to an

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Israeli Jewish family. At the age of two years, her family moved with her to Israel, and resided in the cities of

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon (, ) is an affluent city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon region, bordering the cities of Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon, Hod-HaSharon to the east, and Herzliya and kibbutz ...

and

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

. At thirteen, she began to study singing. She became known in 2006 when she recorded the song ''Millions of Stars'' in memory of her brother, Captain Tom Farkash, who died in a helicopter crash during the

Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

in 2006 while serving in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. On hearing of his death, Amit asked a friend of Tom to write the song, which she sang for the first time publicly at his funeral. It gained fame on radio and became the song most closely identified with the war. In the IDF, she served in the Israeli Air Force Band. From 2007 to 2008 Farkash played a lead role in the Israeli version of

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

. She also performed at the Hanukkah Festigal in 2009 and 2011. In 2010 she released the single ''Something New''. In 2009 Farkash got her first big lead role in TV, starring as Ella Rosen in the Israeli fantasy drama series ''

''. The series was a huge international success and aired in a total of 78 different countries. In 2012 Farkash was a contestant in season seven of the Israeli series

Dancing With the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

. She was partnered with professional dancer ''Oron Dahan'' and won the third place. Since 2014 Farkash has only appeared in a few television roles, refocusing her career on

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

. In recent years has starred in Israeli adaptations of musicals including ''Spring Awakening'' and as Maria in ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

''. In 2015 she released another single entitled ''Leyadcha''. In September 2019, Farkash married her partner Yair Yonas.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

* 2006: מיליון כוכבים (A Million Stars, single) * 2010: Something New (single) * 2015: Leyadcha (single)

Notes

References

External links

*
Amit Farkash
at Ishim (Israeli film data base) {{DEFAULTSORT:Farkash, Amit 1989 births Living people Actresses from Toronto Canadian emigrants to Israel Canadian people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli television actresses Jewish Canadian actresses Musicians from Toronto People from Ramat HaSharon People from Caesarea, Israel Canadian Ashkenazi Jews