Esther and Abi Ofarim
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Esther Ofarim and Abi Ofarim are Israeli entertainers, who performed together whilst married, then continued to have solo careers after divorcing in 1970.
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[edit] Esther Ofarim's background
Esther Ofarim (born Esther Zaied June 13, 1941 in Safed) met Abi Ofarim in 1959; they subsequently married and began to sing Hebrew and international folk songs.
[edit] Abi Ofarim's background
Abi Ofarim (born Abraham Reichstadt October 10, 1937 in Safed, British Mandate of Palestine) was initially ignored in favour of his wife's talent, however eventually they began performing together with Abi on guitar and backing vocals.
At the age of 12, he attended ballet school, and made his debut on stage in Haifa at 15. By the age of 17 he was arranging his own choreography, and by 18 had his own dance studio [1].
[edit] Career whilst married
In 1960 Esther got a small role in the film Exodus. In 1961 Esther won the Song Festival in Tel Aviv, where she sang "Saeni imcha bemachol" and "Neama". Two years later, Esther made the 2nd place at the Eurovision Song Contest with "T'en vas pas", representing Switzerland . From then on, their dual performing career began. In 1966 they had their first hit in Germany with "Noch einen Tanz". Their greatest success in Germany was "Morning of my Life" in 1967, which was written by the Bee Gees. In 1968 the Ofarims had their international breakthrough with "Cinderella Rockefella", which hit the top of the charts in a number of countries including the UK. They played many live concerts in New York and London, and in 1969 they toured around the world.
As result of problems in both business, and personal relations, they divorced in 1970 [2] (in German).
[edit] Esther's solo career
Esther started her solo career with several albums and concerts. In 1984 she played in Joshua Sobol's piece "Ghetto", produced by Peter Zadek in Berlin (Germany). There she sang some songs, including "Frühling" and "Unter deinen weissen Sternen". The play was extremely successful, which was attributed in part to Esther's strong presence.
Since 1998, Esther Ofarim has been performing several concerts each year, especially in Israel and Germany. This includes annual concerts in the Hamburger Kammerspiele.
[edit] Abi's solo career
Some time after his divorce, Abi developed a drug and alcohol addiction [3]. Nevertheless, he continued performing, releasing a number of albums, and also working as a manager, composer and arranger, through his company PROM.
In 1982, Abi wrote a book, called "Der Preis der wilden Jahre".
Abi remarried, to Sandra, but divorced again in 2004.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Jean Philippe |
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 |
Succeeded by: Anita Traversi |
