Dani Litani ( ; born 30 June 1943) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer, actor and voice actor.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, 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 metropolitan area i ...

, Litani learned to play the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

at age six and at age nine, he and his family moved to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He also spent some of his childhood in

Ein HaShofet Ein HaShofet (, ''lit.'' Spring of the Judge) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights region around 25 km southeast of the city of Haifa, close to Yokneam, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council ...

and

Sha'ar HaAmakim Sha'ar HaAmakim () is a kibbutz in Northern District (Israel), northern Israel associated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement founded in 1935. Located near Kiryat Tiv'on, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In it had a p ...

where he improved on playing the guitar and the accordion. At age 17, Litani returned to Haifa and took an interest in blues and soul music, then he later founded a band with several friends. After completing his military service, Litani founded another band which rose to fame since The Six-Day War. The band remained active throughout the 1960s.

Music career

In 1970, Litani ventured out into a solo career. Since then, he moved to

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and abandoned his birth name. While in Tel Aviv, he met fellow musician Drora Havkin and made several collaborations with her. While performing, Litani often accompanies himself on the guitar and the harmonica and is heavily influenced by the work of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. He has performed cover versions of most of Dylan's music and has also performed covers of the works of

Leah Goldberg Leah Goldberg or Lea Goldberg (; May 29, 1911, Königsberg – January 15, 1970, Jerusalem) was a prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, illustrater and painter, and comparative literary researcher. Her wri ...

. During the mid-1970s, Litani sang in two satirical performances by

Yehonatan Geffen Yehonatan Geffen (; 22 February 1947 – 19 April 2023), also known as Yonatan Gefen, was an Israeli author, poet, songwriter, journalist, satirist and playwright. Early life and education Geffen was born in moshav Nahalal. In 1965, he serv ...

. He has also made collaborations with other musicians which include Ronnie Peterson, Danny Robas, Udi Harpaz,

Rachel Shapira Rachel Shapira (; born July 25, 1945) is an Israeli songwriter and poet. She rose to prominence after the Six-Day War with her anti-war song "''Mah Avarekh''" ("With What Shall I Bless?"), set to music by Yair Rosenblum, and went on to write some ...

and

Shalom Hanoch Shalom Hanoch (; born September 1, 1946) is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer. He is considered one of the founders of Israeli rock and modern Israeli music in more generally, both of which have been profoundly influenced by his w ...

Acting career

When Litani reached the peak of his fame, he also found fame acting. He has made appearances at the

Haifa Theatre The Haifa Theatre (; ''Teat'ron Kheifa'') is the first municipal theater company of Haifa, Israel. Background Haifa Theater, Israel's first municipal theater, was established by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi. Together with the support of the Haifa City ...

and performed in shows like ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

''. Litani appeared in the 1993 films ''

Life According to Agfa ''Life According to Agfa'' () is a 1993 Israeli psychological-social drama film written and directed by Assi Dayan and produced by Rafi Bukai and Yoram Kislev. Starring Gila Almagor, Shmil Ben Ari, Irit Frank, Shuli Rand, Sharon Alexander and ...

'' and ''Dummy in a Circle''. He has also appeared in numerous musicals on stage and television and performed for the soundtrack for the 1979 film '' Dizengoff 99''. As a voice actor, Litani provided voices of numerous

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

characters in Hebrew, starting with

Baloo Baloo (from ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's '' The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and '' The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pa ...

in ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

''. He later voiced

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, alo ...

in ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'', Governor Ratcliffe in ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

'', Chef Louis in ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

'',

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, nonprofit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an eight-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a nation ...

in ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' and a Crow in ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

''.

Personal life

Litani is married and has four children. Since the early 2010s, Litani has had a hearing impairment but this has not affected his career.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Litani, Dani 1943 births Living people Singers from Haifa Composers from Haifa Male actors from Haifa Israeli male singer-songwriters Israeli male composers Israeli male stage actors Israeli male voice actors Israeli male film actors Israeli blues singers Israeli rock singers Israeli folk singers Israeli jazz singers Israeli deaf people Deaf musicians Male deaf actors 20th-century Israeli male actors 21st-century Israeli male actors 20th-century Israeli male singers 21st-century Israeli male singers 20th-century Israeli composers 21st-century Israeli composers