Israeli actor Josef Shiloach dies at 69

Esteemed Israeli actor, most notably remembered for such films as Alex Hole Ahava, Hagiga B'Snuker, dies after long battle with cancer

Merav Yudilovitch|Published: 01.03.11 , 11:52

Renowned Israeli actor Josef Shiloach died Monday at the age of 69. Shiloach, who starred is such Israeli cult classics as Alex Hole Ahava, Sapiches and Hagiga B'Snuker passed away following a long battle with cancer. He left behind a wife and three daughters.

Shiloach immigrated to Israel from Kurdistan at the age of nine. He participated in his first film in 1964 and went on to star in dozens of Israeli films and TV shows. He is most notably remembered for his gift for comedy portraying such eccentric characters as Faruk in Alex Hole Ahava.

At the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s Shiloach took part in a number of foreign film productions including Rambo 3, the Mummy Lives, alongside Tony Curtis, and Not Without My Daughter. Upon his return to Israel, he starred in such films as Leylasede.

"I was in contact with him the whole time despite the fact that he shut himself off," actor and director Ze'ev Revach told Ynet. "It’s a pity he was underused as a theatre actor, as he was truly an actor of the first order. I cannot speak of him in past tense, it’s unbelievable. I always loved him. Blessed be his memory."

In 2009, Shiloach won the lifetime achievement award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. "There were many sides to this man. He was always perceived as a comical actor by a large part of the public but he was a very serious and politically committed man and I really valued that about him. He was a very special person," Executive-Director of The Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory said.