Rivka Michaeli (; born 14 April 1938) is an Israeli actress, comedian and television presenter.

Early life

Michaeli was born in

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 ...

, British Mandate of Palestine (now

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

). Her father's family is of Georgian-Jewish descent, whereas her mother comes from the Rivlin family and is of

Austrian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and ...

descent. Michaeli attended the

Hebrew University Secondary School Hebrew University High School (), commonly known as ''Leyada'' (literally "next to"), is a semi-private high school in Jerusalem, established in 1935 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The school is located next to the Givat Ram campus of th ...

Career

By age 14, she was singing on Israel Radio. Michaeli performed her military service at the

Army Radio Israeli Army Radio ( lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz (), is a nationwide state funded Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic reports and educa ...

. In the 1960s, her first show on stage was with Yossi Banai. She met future composer and

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

recipient

Ehud Manor Ehud Manor (; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translat ...

in the 1960s, when she was emceeing the dance troupe of

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

, and he applied to join the troupe. Impressed by his musical knowledge, she contacted Israel Radio, which offered him a job editing musical programs, and ultimately accepted a number of songs he produced for broadcast. In 1974 she was part of the cast of the satirical program ' ("Head Cleaning"). Subsequently, she was the host of ''Siba L'mesiba'' ("Reason for a Party"), the most popular television program broadcast on Friday evenings, as well as its successor, "''Sof Shavua''" ("Weekend"). She also performed at the Habimah and

Cameri Cameri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Novara. Cameri borders the following municipalities: Bellinzago Novarese, Caltignaga ...

theaters, acted in a television series, and appeared in 16 films, broadcast on radio, recorded albums, moderated song festivals, and twice hosted

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...

. She was awarded a prize for her life's work by the Israeli Film and Television Academy, and also a prize for her contribution to radio. In 1991, ''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'' called her "one of Israel's most popular television hosts", and in 1995 ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' called her "one of the country's most popular entertainers". In 1992, she won praise for her performance in

Amos Guttman Amos Guttman (; 10 May 1954 – 16 February 1993) was an Israeli film director, born in Romania. He directed the first-ever Israeli LGBT-themed film and most of his films were based on events that happened in his own personal life. Biography G ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

drama film, ''

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

''.

Personal life

In 1967, Michaeli married Yoram Liebovich, an insurance man, and in 1979 they divorced. They have a daughter and son who live in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. After several years, Michaeli married again to Reuven Sharoni, also an insurance man. After 16 years they separated, but later resumed living together and were married until Sharoni's death in 2023. Michaeli lives in

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 ...

. Michaeli is a member of the public council of the organization B'Tselem.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michaeli, Rivka 1938 births Living people Actresses from Jerusalem Mass media people from Jerusalem Israeli stage actresses Israeli film actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli radio actresses Israeli women comedians Israeli women radio presenters Israeli women television presenters Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Georgian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli actresses Jewish Israeli comedians Jewish women comedians Ophir Award winners 20th-century Israeli actresses 21st-century Israeli actresses 20th-century Israeli comedians 21st-century Israeli comedians 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Hebrew University Secondary School alumni