Yehuda Barkan (; 29 March 1945 – 23 October 2020) was an Israeli
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
,
film producer,
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
, and
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
. He was noted for his appearance in Israeli comedy cult classics of the 1970s, and for producing and directing
candid camera "prank films" in the 1980s.
[
]
Biography
Yehuda Ezekiel Berkowitz (later Barkan) was born in Netanya
Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...
. His father was born in Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
while his mother was born in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. His parents spoke Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
. He studied at the Bialik and ORT schools in Netanya. During his military service in the IDF, Barkan served in a Combat Engineering Corps unit and the Northern Command 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 instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...
.
From his first marriage, Barkan had four children.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Barkan became a baal teshuva
In Judaism, a ''ba'al teshuvah'' (; for a woman, , or ; plural, , , 'owner of return God or his way]') is a Jew who adopts some form of traditional religious observance after having previously followed a Jewish secularism, secular lifestyle or ...
and moved to the religious moshav
A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...
Beit Gamliel
Beit Gamliel (, lit. ''House of Gamliel'') is a religious moshav in central Israel. Located south-east of Yavne, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Yavne Regional Council. In , it had a population of .
History
The moshav was established i ...
with his family.
In November 2008, Barkan was questioned by the Israeli Tax Authority on suspicion of tax evasion
Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...
.
Barkan died on October 23, 2020, after contracting COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
The COVID-19 pandemic in Israel is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case in Israel was confirmed on 21 February 2020, when a female citize ...
.[
]
Music career
After his military service, Barkan joined the Dizengoff Command Band (להקת פיקוד דיזנגוף), a band composed of veteran members of military bands who performed songs and skits.
Media and film career
In the early 1970s, Barkan participated in a sketch on the Israeli radio show ''Hamim VeTaim'' (חמים וטעים) in which Barkan and his colleagues, Moshe Timor, Shlomo Bar-Aba and others, made live prank call
A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...
s. This became the inspiration for his later practical joke
A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
films.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Barkan participated in many Israeli " Bourekas films", among them '' Lupo!'', '' Lupo in New York'', '' Katz V'Carasso'', '' Charlie Ve'hetzi'', '' Hagiga B'Snuker'', '' Bo Nefotzetz Million'' and more.Assi Dayan
Assaf "Assi" Dayan (; 23 November 1945 – 1 May 2014) was an Israeli film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer.
Life
Dayan was the youngest son of Israeli general and defense minister Moshe Dayan and peace activist Ruth Dayan (née Sch ...
.
During the 1980s, Barkan began to direct and produce films, including the hidden camera
A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...
film '' Hayeh Ahaltah Otah'' (which he directed together with Yigal Shilon), ''Nipagesh Bachof'', ''Nipagesh Basivuv'', ''Matzlema Bli Busha'' and ''Geveret Tiftehi, Ze Ani''). Also during the 1980s, Barkan produced and directed comic drama films, most notably the '' Abba Ganuv'' film series and the film '' Neshika Bametzach'' released in 1990 alongside Michal Yanai.
In 1994, shortly after the start of Israeli commercial television Channel 2 began its broadcasting, Barkan started hosting his own practical jokes show called ''Lo Dofkim Cheshbon''. The show was cancelled shortly after.
In 1999, Barkan participated in two last films: ''Look into my eyes'' and '' Volcano Junction'', in which he played small supporting roles.
In 2003, Barkan took part in the documentary film ''Zehirut Matzlema'' along with Nurit Geffen and Josie Katz.
In 2004, Barkan appeared in the drama series ''Ahava BaShalechet'' along with Lea Koenig.
Barkan enjoyed a career resurgence in the 2010s. He played the part of a grandfather of a young child with autism in the Israeli television series '' Yellow Peppers'', and beginning in 2017 played a rabbi in the television series '' Kipat Barzel''.
Selected filmography
Films
* 1967: He Walked Through the Fields
* 1970: '' Lupo!'' – Lupo
* 1971: '' Katz and Karasso''
* 1971: ''The Highway Queen'' (''Malkat Hakvish'') – Arik
* 1972: '' Escape to the Sun'' – Yasha Bazarov
* 1974: '' Charlie Ve'hetzi'' (''Charlie and a Half'') – Charlie
* 1975: '' Hagiga B'Snuker''
* 1985: ''Smell and Smile'' (''Kompot Na'alyim'')
*1987: Cool Dad (Abba Ganuv)
* 1987: ''Nipagesh Basivuv''
Television
* 2011: '' Yellow Peppers''
* 2017: ''Kipat Barzel''
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkan, Yehuda
1945 births
2020 deaths
Israeli Orthodox Jews
Israeli male film actors
Israeli male television actors
People from Netanya
Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Baalei teshuva
Ophir Award winners
Israeli film directors
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel
Israeli people of Czech-Jewish descent
Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent