Yaron London - Biography

Yaron London (born 24 August 1940) is an Israeli media personality, journalist, actor and songwriter.

Biography

London was born in Tel Aviv in 1940 to actor Bezalel London (1900–71).

London studied in the Herzliya Hebrew High School and later left it for the agricultural boarding school HaKfar HaYarok. In 1961, after his service in the IDF, he moved to Jerusalem to study graphics at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. In 1962, during his studies, he began working for Kol Yisrael as a news announcer. He hosted HaYom HaZeh ("This day"), the first current affairs program in Israeli electronic media.

In 1969 he was sent by the Israel Broadcasting Authority to Paris as its correspondent in Western Europe. In the early 1970s he returned to Israel and joined Channel One as a talk show host, and later became head of the drama department. He also directed several documentaries.

In 1988 he left the television to become a correspondent and publicist in Yediot Aharonot. In 1990 he returned to Channel One, and co-hosted the children's show "Mesibat Gan" ("Garden Party") with Rivka Michaeli. In 1994, soon after the establishment of Channel Two, he made several documentaries for Keshet, including "The Fat Man with the Sony", a month long travelogue in South East Asia.

In 2003 he began co-hosting the daily current affairs program "London & Kirschenbaum" with Moti Kirschenbaum (whom he had met working for Channel One) on Channel Ten. In 2008, they both signed for two more years with the Channel Ten. His other activities included illustrating a poetry book in 1962, and writing several popular tunes, including one for HaGashash HaHiver. His songs were recently published in a compilation album. In 1979 he appeared in the film Schlager starring Hagashash HaHiver members and in 1983 he starred in Yitzhak Yeshurun's A Married Couple, as well as several children tapes. In 2008 he made a series titled "The scenario", which dramatizes potential disasters that might strike Israel.

In 2005, he was voted the 76th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.

In December 2007 he was awarded the Sokolov Prize for lifetime achievement. He lives in Afeka, Tel Aviv and has three children. Since 2005, he has been taking care of his wife Nira, after she suffered from a stroke. Nira died in February 2010.

See also

• London at Kirschenbaum
• Hasamba

External links

• Yaron London's opinion columns on Ynet
• Yaron London's bibliography