Acting

Arik Einstein

Born 1939-01-03 · Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine [now Israel]

Arieh Einstein was born in Tel Aviv. His father, Yaakov, was an actor with the "Ohel" Theater. Einstein was Israel's junior high jump and shot put champion. His father urged him to audition for an army entertainment troupe, and he was accepted into the Nahal Brigade troupe. In 1963, Arieh Einstein married Alona Shochat in the hall of Habima Theater (where he was onstage in a production of Irma La Douce). After four years of marriage, during which their daughter Shiri was born, the couple divorced. A year later, in 1968, they remarried. Their daughter Yasmin was born in 1971. They divorced again in 1972. Alona Einstein died in 2006 from cancer. Arik Einstein's second wife was Sima Eliyahu, whom he met shortly before filming the movie Metzitzim in 1972. They had a daughter and a son: Dina and Amir.[citation needed] Despite a successful career of acting and singing, Einstein was the shy type and a homebody. In one of his songs he sang that his greatest pleasure was staying home with a cup of lemon tea and his books, and in this he was sincere. In a candid interview that was shown on TV, he said that performing in front of big crowds was difficult for him (without the help of a few glugs of cognac beforehand). For this reason he ceased to perform public concerts from the year of 1981 and on, despite many attractive offers. In 1982 he was hurt in a major car accident. His wife was also hurt, and another friend lost her life. Following the accident Einstein's eyesight, which was already myopic, got worse and he spent less and less time in public.

Acting credits

Renan Schorr documented the wedding of Uri Zohar's son to Arik Einstein's daughter.

Wedding in Jerusalem

1985

4.4

Gote and Eli are two aging friends who don't want to age. Gote is a lifeguard who's fighting peepers on the Tel-Aviv beach. Eli is a guitar player who dreams of building a night club in altman's restaurant.

Peeping Toms

1972

6.5

A comedy about changes in the life of Israeli family after they get a cable TV with a lot of channels.

Cables

1992

8.0

A group of children embrace an eccentric old man, and working together, build a ship on a rooftop.

Dreamboat

—

10.0

A love story between two people of different religions.

Nini

1962

8.5

A musical, semi-documentary motion picture considering the making of "Shablul", a rock album by Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch. The film demonstrates fragments of being, a few funny sketches and musical numbers, much affected by The Beatles' flicks. "Shablul" reminds its viewers the taste of 60s, showing them the Israeli pop/rock scene of these jolly years.

The Snail

1970

A collection of skits and songs from Israeli television shows from the 1970s.

Lool

1988

6.8

Sallah Shabati, the patriarch of a big family recently arrived to Israel from Yemen, tries to make money and get better housing, in a country that can barely provide for its own and is in the midst of absorbing hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

Sallah

1964

The river and nature are placed in the forefront of the film, taking on the role of the main character. Through rare archival materials in addition to personal and social stories, we reveal the importance of the connection between society and its land, between nature and man. This is a portrait of one small river that flows in the heart of the Israeli society and reflects the Israeli narrative through an entirely new lens.

Winding: A River Story

2015

5.7

Benny Furman is a basketball headcoach who can't decide what he really wants.

Big Eyes

1974

Tzvi Shissel's last film documents his lifelong friendship and creative partnership with Arik Einstein, from their Tel Avivian childhood to Shissel's death, using never-before-seen homemade and archived footage.

Tzvi says - Shissel and Einstein

2022

Daliah sneaks into a cargo ship bound to Israel. The sailors will do anything to hide from the though captain her and catch her attention.

Dalia and the Sailors

1964

8.0

"Kemo gedolim" is a collection of well known Israeli, children songs sang by Ariḳ Ainshṭain and others. In between the songs embedded short skits starring Moni Moshonov and Tsevi Shisel , who embody two porters hauling a giant crate up a winding staircase and unexpectedly run into Ariḳ, a group of kids, jugglers, clowns and storytellers emerging from the crate. The two, try to do their job faithfully but occasionally they also try to sing, dance and play, which creates a variety of funny moments.