Shlomo "Moni" Moshonov ( ; born August 18, 1951) is an Israeli actor, comedian and theater director.

Biography

Moshonov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1951 and immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four. His father, Moshe, had studied law in Sofia, and became a fabric merchant in the Ramle market. Moni grew up in Ramla and later served in an entertainment group of the IDF. He studied acting at Tel Aviv University and then joined the Haifa Theater staff, where he played for five years. In 1977 he made his first film appearance in Masa Alunkot ("Journey of Stretchers") alongside Gidi Gov.

In 1978, he and Shlomo Baraba began hosting the satirical TV show Zehu Ze! on the Israeli Educational Television. The program was later sold to Channel 2 and went off the air in 1998. He also appeared in the films The Man Who Flew in to Grab (1981), Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) and Deadline (1987). During the 1980s he and Baraba also starred in the five "Festigal" children festivals, performing several known 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 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 The Goat: or, Who Is Sylvia?.

In 2000 he starred in Besame Mucho and in Dover Kosashvili's Late Marriage in 2001, for which he won the Israeli Film Academy Award for best supporting actor. In 2002 he starred in Amos Gitai's Kedma. In 2003 he played in Kosashvili's next film Gift from Above, and starred in Year Zero. In 2004 he joined the sketch show Ktsarim 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 ("Mechilot") 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 Sadeh and is the father of opera singer Alma Moshonov and actor Michael Moshonov. He lives in Tel Aviv, near Habima Theater.

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