Shlomo "Moni" Moshonov is an Israeli actor, comedian, and theater director.
Life and career
Moshonov was born in Ramla, Israel, in 1951, to a family that had immigrated to Israel from Sofia, Bulgaria. His father, Moshe, who studied law in Sofia, sold textiles in the Ramla market. Moshonov grew up in Ramla. He did his military service in an IDF entertainment troupe. After studying drama at Tel Aviv University, he joined the Haifa Theater, remaining with the group for five years. In 1977 he made his first film appearance in Masa Alunkot alongside Gidi Gov. In 1978–98, Moshonov and Shlomo Baraba hosted the satirical TV showZehu Ze!, first on Israeli Educational Television and then Channel 2. He also appeared in the films The Man Who Flew in to Grab, Every Time We Say Goodbye and Deadline. During the 1980s he starred in five "Festigal" song festivals, performing children's songs. He also starred in Arik Einstein's children's video Like Grownups in 1991. In 1992 he wrote, produced and starred in the film Cables. He has appeared in many theater plays in the Cameri Theater, Habima and the Beit Lessin Theater, as well as several entertainment shows with Baraba. In 2006 he directed Ideal Wedding at Habima and starred in . In 2000 he starred in Besame Mucho and in Dover Kosashvili's Late Marriage in 2001, for which he won the Israeli FilmAcademy Award for best supporting actor. In 2002 he starred in Amos Gitai's Kedma. In 2003 he played in Kosashvili's next filmGift from Above, and starred in Year Zero. In 2004 he joined the sketch showKtzarim on the Channel 2, for which he won an Israeli Film Academy Award for best actor in a comedy series, and in 2007 he hosted the Israeli version of Thank God You're Here on Channel 10. In 2006 he starred in Forgiveness and in We Own the Night in 2007. In 2008 he joined the cast of the second season of Betipul, and starred in Two Lovers. Moshonov is married to actress Sandra Sade, and is the father of opera singer and actress Alma Sadé Moshonov and actor Michael Moshonov. He lives in Tel Aviv, near Habima Theater. In 2012 he played in the Israeli TV series, The Gordin Cell as Peter Yom-Tov, an old Shin-Bet agent from Bulgaria. He co-starred as Nick in the 2013 movie Hunting Elephants. In the same year, he appeared in Shraga Bishgada, an Israeli TV show. In 2014 he played in the Bulgarian film Bulgarian Rhapsody, which became the Bulgarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. In 2015 he portrayed former Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer in a controversial TV ad campaign for Amir Bramly's Kela fund, which was broadcast in Prime time including the "Golden Break" before the winner announcement in two high rating reality shows. As of 2020 he's playing in the reboot of Zehu Ze!, and in The Jews are Coming.
