Assi Dayan (1935-2014) was an actor, screenwriter, director, publisher, lyricist, and poet. Dayan’s acting career began in 1967 when he was cast in the role of ‘Uri’ in Yosef Millo’s film, He Walked Through the Fields, after which he soon shot to fame, becoming one of Israel’s most beloved actors. In the early 1970s, when Dayan was already a household name, he began writing and directing. His early forays into film directing saw him attempt a number of “arty”, more intimate films which failed to leave much of a mark. However, he later transitioned into a more commercial writing style which resulted in a string of hit films; some of which have gone on to earn cult status. Many of those films were a collaboration with composer, screenwriter and producer, Naftali Alter – Dayan’s regular writing and production partner.
Highlights of his credits as director include: Murder C.O.D. (1973), Saint Cohen (1975) which won a Special Jury Prize at the Sanremo Film Festival, and the cult film, Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer (1976) starring iconic comedy trio, HaGashah HaHiver (‘the pale tracker’), with whom he would later collaborate again in his film, The Hit (1979).
Further down the line, Dayan came to recalibrate his writing and directing style yet again. In the early 1990s, he made the film trilogy that would enshrine him as one of Israeli cinema’s most important filmmakers: Life According to Agfa (1992) for which he won a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival, and an additional nine Ophir Awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Directing; Electric Blanket (1994) which was featured in the Berlin International Film Festival’s Panorama section and lastly, Mr. Baum (1997), which took home two Ophir Awards and was shown at festivals, worldwide.
Dayan holds the record for having individually won the most Ophir Awards – a total of eight, including one Lifetime Achievement Award. Highlights of his film acting credits include: Scouting Patrol (Micha Shagrir, 1967), The Dress (Judd Ne’eman, 1969), A Walk with Love and Death (John Huston, 1969), Promise at Dawn (Jules Dassin, 1970), Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), Moments de la vie d’une femme (Michal Bat-Adam, 1979), Beyond the Walls (Uri Barabash, 1984), Into the Night (Eitan Green, 1985), Things (Amos Gitai, 1995), Time of Favor (Joseph Cedar, 2000), Campfire (Joseph Cedar, 2004), and Out of Sight (Daniel Syrkin, 2006). Dayan also appeared in several of the films he had directed including Mr. Baum, The Gospel According to God (2003), and Dr. Pomerantz (2011).
Dayan was also a regular in many TV series, with the most successful and memorable one being In Therapy that won him two Television Academy Awards for his performance (one per season). In 2012, Dayan took part in the making of an autobiographical documentary about his life, Life as a Rumor. All three episodes aired on Israeli culture and documentary channel, Channel 8, and were well-received and highly-rated.
Dayan is the son of former Defence Secretary and IDF Chief of Staff, Moshe Dayan; brother of politician, Yael Dayan, and father of publicist, Lior Dayan.
