Dudu Topaz

Dudu Topaz
Dudu Topaz on June 1, 2009
Born	David Goldenberg September 20, 1946 Haifa, Israel
Died	August 20, 2009(2009-08-20) (aged 62) Nitzan Detention Center, Ramla, Israel
Occupation	Actor and TV personality

Dudu Topaz (Hebrew: דודו טופז‎‎; September 20, 1946 – August 20, 2009) was an Israeli TV personality, comedian, actor, screenwriter, playwright, author and radio and television host. In August 2009 he committed suicide while incarcerated, having been criminally charged with conspiring violence against prominent media figures in Israel.

David Goldenberg, later Dudu Topaz, was born in Haifa to Lilly and Eliyahu Goldenberg. His father was a radio announcer, actor and director. After his army service, Topaz studied acting in London. Upon his return, he performed with the Haifa Theatre and appeared in entertainment shows around the country. Topaz was married three times and had three sons.

In the 1970s, he took part in an Israeli radio show called "לצון נופל על לצון" (loosely:"A pranker falls for a prank"). His first job in television was as an English teacher in the Israeli Educational Television. In the early eighties Topaz began to direct television game shows in Channel 1. The most successful of those was the game show "Play It" (שחק אותה). Topaz was a television host in the Israeli public TV Channel 1 in the eighties and early nineties, as well as running some successful sketch comedy shows on stage.

In the nineties he was the host of popular show "Rashut Habidur" (The Entertainment Authority), later renamed "Ha'Rishon Ba'Bidur" (The First at entertainment), that aired for 11 seasons between 1994-2004 on Channel 2 commercial channel, and is one of the highest rated shows ever aired on commercial TV in Israel. After the show ended, Topaz hosted several other shows on other channels, but in May 2007 he announced that he would no longer host TV shows, but would pursue other careers such as acting and documentary film making.