Tuvia Tzafir

Tuvia Tzafir was born in 1945 in Tel Aviv

Tzafir was born in Tel Aviv in 1945 as Tuvia Kozlowski. He grew up in the Florentin neighborhood in a traditional home of immigrants from Poland, where his father ran a grocery. He attended Ironi Dalet high school in Tel Aviv.

In the early 1960s he served in the Nahal entertainment troupe, which started his career in show business.

In the 1970s he joined the satire shows Lo Hakol Over and Nikui Rosh, where he began imitating politicians such as Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin. He acted in films including Salomonico, Charlie Ve'hetzi and Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona, and in the 1990s voiced puppets on Chartzufim. Between 1992 and 1996 he dubbed the Genie in the Hebrew version of Aladdin and its 2 sequels.

Since the 2000s he has worked mainly in children's shows, where he became known as Grandpa Tuvia. In 2005 he was indicted for violence and threats against a studio employee, and in 2006 a court approved a plea bargain under which he did community service. Later roles include Savri Maranan from 2011 and stage musicals at Habima and the Hebrew Theater.

In 1966 he married Yael, who produces his shows. They have 3 children, among them actor and director Yoav Tzafir.