Singer Lior Yeni passed away tonight (Saturday) at the age of 84. Yeni recorded a career of about six decades in the Israeli entertainment world, as a singer as well as as an actor in movies and musicals.
Yeni was born in 1936 in Kibbutz Afikim, and did his military service in the Golani Brigade. In 1963 he joined the band of roosters when she performed with her second show. In 1968 he starred in the lead role in the successful musical “I Like Mike”, where he performed the song “What a total person needs”.
In 1970, Yeni released his debut album, “Thank You Very Much.” In 1972, he played the lead role in the film “Where Did Daniel Wax Go”, which is considered one of the quality films of Israeli cinema. In this film, he performed the original version of the song “Japanese Legend” written by Ehud Manor and composed by Ariel Zilber, who later performed the song himself in his familiar version.
In 1973, Yeni performed an evening of songs by the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. He later released four more albums, including an album of Russian composer Vladimir Vysotsky’s songs. In 1987 he appeared in the musical “Poor Life”.
Yeni was previously married to the director of the Roosters, Naomi Polani. He later divorced her and married Aviva Orshalom. Later there is a relative system with Ruthie Polanyi, sister of Naomi Polani. He was the father of the captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv in football, Sharan Yeni.
Maccabi Tel Aviv issued a condolence statement: “The Maccabi Tel Aviv football club, the owners, management, players and employees share the grief of captain Sharan and his family following the death of their father, Lior Yeni, who passed away tonight. Of blessed memory”.