Biography
Shlomo (Moni) Moshonov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1951. He immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four. His father, Moshe, who studied law in Sofia, worked as a textile seller in the Ramla market. Moshonov was raised in Ramla and completed his military service in an IDF entertainment troupe. After studying drama at Tel Aviv University, he joined the Haifa Theater, where he remained for five years. In 1977, he made his film debut in "Masa Alunkot" ("Journey of Stretchers") alongside Gidi Gov. From 1978 to 1998, Moshonov and Shlomo Baraba co-hosted the satirical TV show Zehu Ze!, initially on Israeli Educational Television and later on Channel 2. He also appeared in films such as The Man Who Flew in to Grab (1981), Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986), and Deadline (1987). During the 1980s, he participated in five "Festigal" song festivals, performing children's songs, and featured in Arik Einstein's 1991 children's video Like Grownups. In 1992, he wrote, produced, and starred in the film Cables. He has appeared in numerous theater productions at the Cameri Theater, Habima, and 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 (2001), for which he received the Israeli Film Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2002, he appeared in Amos Gitai's Kedma. He acted in Kosashvili's next film, Gift from Above (2003), and starred in Year Zero. In 2004, he joined the sketch show Ktsarim on Channel 2, earning the Israeli Film Academy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, and in 2007, he hosted the Israeli edition of Thank God You're Here on Channel 10. He starred in Forgiveness ("Mechilot") in 2006 and 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 resides in Tel Aviv, near Habima Theater. In 2005, he was voted the 66th greatest Israeli of all time in a poll conducted by the Israeli news website Ynet to identify the 200 Greatest Israelis. In 2012, he appeared in the Israeli TV series The Gordin Cell as Peter Yom-Tov, an elderly Shin-Bet agent originally from Bulgaria.
