Svika Pick (1949-2022) was a singer, composer, and actor. Born Henryk Pick in Wrocław, Poland, to Holocaust survivor parents, his grandfather used to run a music conservatoire, whereas his uncle was a music professor. Aged five, Pick started playing the piano – a passion that carried over to Israel when the family emigrated in 1957.
Throughout his youth, he was in and out of various folk groups including The Chocolate (‘hashokolada’) and The Fatties and Skinnies (‘hashmenim veharazim’). In 1970, Pick and two of his fellow bandmates from The Chocolate, Gabi Shoshan and Shuki Levy, were cast in the Israeli production of the smash hit musical, Hair. Pick who landed the role of Claude shot to superstardom virtually overnight, becoming a bona fide teen idol and sex symbol. His performance in Hair earned him a Best Stage Actor award that year.
Pick’s expansive career, spanning five decades, had its share of ups and downs – from praise and reverence to eye-rolling scorn and disdain – but in the noughties, he was able to reclaim his status as beloved superstar and national treasure. Indeed, many of his songs over the years have become staples of Israeli culture with some of the most memorable being ‘I Love you Leah’ [‘ani ohev otach Leah, ]‘No Country for Love’ [‘ein medina la’ahava’,] ‘Mary Lou,’ ‘Tishrei Gathered [‘ne’esaf tishrey,’] ‘Music’ [‘musica’,] ‘The Automatic Dancer’ [‘harakdan ha’otomati,’] ‘Not I’ [‘lo ani,] and ‘End of Summer Love’ [‘ahava besof hakaitz.’]
In 1977, Pick and Tiki (Tikva) Dayan co-starred in George Obadiah’s film Midnight Entertainer, that also featured their duet ‘It’s Good to Fall in Love’ [‘tov lehitahev.’] In 1979, he wrote the score to Assi Dayan’s film The Hit, including the runaway hit ‘The Bimbo Song’ [‘shir hafrecha,] which he penned especially for the late great Ofra Haza who starred in the film. That same year he also wrote and composed ‘To Live with Him’ [‘lagur ito,’] for Avi Nesher’s film, Dizengoff 99. The song became one of film lead and singer Riki Gal’s greatest hits. Then in 1998, Pick handed Israel its third Eurovision Song Contest win when he wrote the global smash hit, ‘Diva’, for trailblazing trans singer Dana International.
In 2002 Mary Lou, an original musical inspired by the songs of Svika Pick opened at Habima National Theatre. The musical enjoyed an immensely successful run with upwards of 400 performances, and new productions opening in 2016 and 2022, respectively.
Through the years Pick guest-starred in a variety of TV programmes, playing fictional characters, and as himself. In 2001, he had a stint in primetime telenovela City Tower; then between 2005-2009, he was part of the judging panel on A Star is Born [‘kokhav nolad] – the Israeli iteration of Pop Idol. In 2005, comedy channel Beep debuted The Maestro, an Osbournes-esque docu-reality series featuring Pick and his family.
From 1975-1995 Pick was married to lyricist Mirit Shem-Or who wrote the lyrics to many of his greatest hits. Their daughters, Sharona and Daniella Pick [wife of US film director Quentin Tarantino] are both singer-songwriters and for a while, had a band together called The Pick Sisters (aka The Picks).
In 2018, Pick suffered a major stroke mid-flight. He consequently lost his speech and required extensive rehabilitation. In 2022, at the age of 72, Svika Pick passed away.
