Shlomo Bar-Shavit

Shlomo Bar-Shavit (; 7 December 1928 – 8 September 2019) was an Israeli actor, voice actor and theatre director.

Biography Born in Jerusalem, his father was a construction worker and his mother, who was the granddaughter of Shlomo Elyashiv, was a nurse at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center. When Bar-Shavit was four years old, he was abandoned by his parents after they separated and he spent a majority of his childhood in 13 different foster institutions and kibbutzim including Mishmar HaEmek and Givat Brenner. At the age of nine, Bar-Shavit decided that he wanted to become an actor after witnessing a play that one of the foster homes organised. He performed in his first play in a kibbutz at 16. He subsequently became a stage actor at the Habima Theatre.

In 1948, Bar-Shavit enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces and joined the Chizbatron entertainment troupe. He performed for soldiers during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. For a number of years, Bar-Shavit was on the Habima's management team and served as an artistic director and in 1999, he directed a theatrical adaptation of The Eternal Husband by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

In cinema and television, Bar-Shavit made his debut screen appearance in the 1964 film Bring the Girls to Eilat. He also starred in the 1970 film Lupo! directed by Menahem Golan. From 2009 until 2011, he had a recurring role as the father of the central protagonist in the television series Polishuk and he appeared in the season 9 episode premiere of Life is Not Everything. As a voice actor, he dubbed the voices of characters into the Hebrew language. These include Rafiki in The Lion King films, Jasper in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Fagin in Oliver & Company and he also served as the voice of Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films before he was replaced by Albert Cohen.

In 2001, Bar-Shavit released an autobiography. Three years later, a documentary was released detailing his life.

Personal life Bar-Shavit was married and had one son and two daughters. He and his family resided in Tel Aviv.

Death On 8 September 2019, Bar-Shavit died in Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center from complications of pneumonia at the age of 90. Prior to his death, he used a wheelchair and was battling a variety of health issues, including Parkinson's disease.