Israel’s ‘King of Entertainment’ takes a dive

June 1, 2009 - 8:17 AM by

Dudu Topaz in better days.

Dudu Topaz in better days.

Thumbing through our daily tabloid papers in Hebrew the last day or two, you would never know there’s an Iranian threat, a budding conflict between Obama and Bibi on settlement freezes and natural growth, or a water shortage.

That’s because, in its infancy, the summer has already produced its major scandal. The ‘King of Entertainment’ in Israel, Dudu Topaz, has been arrested and accused by police of ordering a team of Soprano-like associates to assault two senior TV network executives and an actor’s agent who rebuffed his overtures regarding new TV vehicles for himself.

It’s like a combination of Fatty Arbuckle, OJ Simpson and Phil Spector all rolled into one – a revered public entertainer who seemingly has everything falling to the depths. And the Israeli public, being like any other social group in the world, can’t get enough of it.

“He wanted to be on TV and work with them. They said no,” a police source said, explaining the possible motive for the brutal attacks over the last few months on Shira Margalit, deputy director-general of the Reshet television network, Avi Nir, director-general of the Keshet network, and actor’s agent Boaz Ben-Zion.

Evidently, the rumor mill in the entertainment industry had pegged Topaz long ago as being connected, with the nightly news shows already last week running interviews with him in which he denied the rumors. At that time, it appeared that Topaz looked uneasy and psychologically possibly unstable. And according to news reports today, since his arrest, he’s been transferred to a psychiatric hospital.

The tabloids are having a field day recounting Topaz’s fall from grace as one of the TV top hosts and comedians. His humor has always been a little broad based, with sexist overtones, but he built a huge audience with the ‘Am’ – the people in the street – as an everyman kind of comic – the boy next door with a touch of evil.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he was a TV staple, hosting a range of shows including an Israeli version of The Dating Game, and a satirical TV show, which depicted a range of Israeli characters and stand-up routines. In the early 1990s, Topaz hosted a weekend comedy and chat show on Channel 1. He then moved to the newly created Channel 2, breaking ratings records with his own TV show. Always controversial, Topaz made headlines when he allegedly took a sexually-motivated bite on the neck of guest, South American bombshell Natalie Oreiro. He claimed he was just being friendly.

Earlier this decade, Topaz bounced around different channels, alienating himself with Channel 2, where both Nir and Margalit run the show, by jumping to Channel 10. Since that show was cancelled, Topaz has been out of a steady gig.

While his performing days may be behind him, as he faces a prolonged prison term if convicted, you can check out some of his shtick below.

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Tags: , , , , • Category: Crime, General, Life, Pop Culture 

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  1. caojiufeng on Wed, Mar 9th 2011 4:32 PM

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