Rivka Michaeli

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title: "Rivka Michaeli" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1938-births", "living-people", "actresses-from-jerusalem", "mass-media-people-from-jerusalem", "hebrew-university-secondary-school-alumni", "yiddish-theatre-performers", "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"] description: "Israeli actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivka_Michaeli" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Israeli actress ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Rivka Michaeli
native_name	רבקה מיכאלי
native_name_lang	Hebrew
image	Rivka Michaeli.jpg
caption	Michaeli in 2016
birth_date
birth_place	Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
death_date
resting_place_coordinates
nationality	Israeli
occupation
years_active	1952–present
height
website
::

| honorific_prefix= | name = Rivka Michaeli | honorific_suffix= | native_name = רבקה מיכאלי | native_name_lang= Hebrew | image = Rivka Michaeli.jpg | image_size= | alt= | caption = Michaeli in 2016 | birth_name= | birth_date = | birth_place = Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine | death_date = | death_place= | death_cause= | resting_place= | resting_place_coordinates= | nationality = Israeli | other_names= | citizenship= | education= | alma_mater= | occupation = | years_active = 1952–present | employer= | organization= | known_for= | notable_works= | style= | height= | television= | title= | term= | spouse= | partner= | children= | parents= | relatives= | awards= | signature= | signature_size= | module= | website= | footnotes=

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

Early life

Michaeli was born in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel). Her father's family is of Georgian-Jewish descent, whereas her mother comes from the Rivlin family and is of Austrian-Jewish descent. Michaeli attended the Hebrew University Secondary School.

Career

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

In the 1960s, her first show on stage was with Yossi Banai. 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 theaters, acted in a television series, and appeared in 16 films, broadcast on radio, recorded albums, moderated song festivals, and twice hosted Eurovision.

In 1991, The Los Angeles Times called her "one of Israel's most popular television hosts", and in 1995 The Jerusalem Post called her "one of the country's most popular entertainers".

In 1992, she won praise for her performance in Amos Guttman's AIDS drama film, Amazing Grace.

Michaeli speaks Yiddish fluently and has performed in stage productions for Yiddishpiel, a Yiddish theatre in Tel Aviv. In 2024, she had a Yiddish-language role in the Antwerp-set television series Kugel, a prequel to Shtisel.

Awards and recognitiion

• 2001 for lifetime achievement
• 2005: Ophir Award for best supporting actress in Joy by .
• 2008: Award of the Israeli Television Academy for lifetime achievement
• 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Israeli radio
• 2011: Ben-Gurion University honorary doctorate " "in recognition of an esteemed artist and wonderful comedian, who with her brilliant talent and stage presence has left her mark on Israeli culture in a variety of fields; in recognition of the value of one of the pillars of the entertainment sector in Israel..."
• 2018: Television Academy Award - Best Actress in a Children's and Youth Series for

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. After several years, Michaeli got 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.

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

References

References

1. Yossi Katz. (2010). "A Voice Called: Stories of Jewish Heroism". Gefen Publishing.
2. Amy Kronish. (2003). "Israeli film: a reference guide". Bloomsbury Academic.
3. Penny Starr. (6 May 1994). "Wild, Newsy Justapositions {{sic". The Jerusalem Post.
4. Michael Ajzenstadt. (9 May 1995). "Rivka Michaeli returns to stage in play set in S. Africa". The Jerusalem Post.
5. Allison Kaplan Sommer. (7 April 1995). "Ya Gotta Love Her". The Jerusalem Post.
6. Sarah Hershenson. (16 September 1999). "Friendship on my mind". The Jerusalem Post.
7. Anderman, Nirit. (12 January 2010). "Still captivating, after all these years". Haaretz.
8. רונית מזרחי. (2010-07-16). "בגובה העיניים עם רבקה מיכאלי".
9. (2016-01-28). "שיחת טלפון מפתיעה לרבקה מיכאלי: "שיגזרו לי טלאי שמתאים לי"".
10. (2022-05-27). ""משואה? ישרפו אותי במקום": רבקה מיכאלי צוחקת כל הדרך אל...".
11. Palti, Michal. (7 June 2011). "Ehud Manor, 1941–2005". Haaretz.
12. Carl Schrag. (9 February 1991). "In Israel, Every Hour's Prime Time Broadcasting: Since the Scud missile attacks, around-the-clock news and escapist fare on TV and radio are the No. 1 forms of entertainment". Los Angeles Times.
13. [https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline17/amazing-grace Amazing Grace] ''Frameline''. Retrieved on 6 July 2024
14. Schaechter, Rukhl (6 March 2025). [https://forward.com/yiddish-world/702127/shtisel-spin-off-kugel-diasporic-hasidic-community-yiddish/ ‘Shtisel’ spin-off ‘Kugel’ richly portrays a diasporic Hasidic community] ''The Forward''. Retrieved on 8 November 2025
15. [https://www.ishim.co.il/p.php?s=רבקה מיכאלי רבקה+מיכאלי]
16. [https://in.bgu.ac.il/Pages/news/Rivka_Michaeli.aspx אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון תעניק תואר ד"ר לאות כבוד לרבקה מיכאלי במסגרת אירועי יום בן-גוריון]
17. (2023-12-08). "עליות ומורדות: סיפור האהבה המטלטל של רבקה מיכאלי וראובן שרוני {{!}} TMI".
18. "המועצה הציבורית בצלם".

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