Gilles Ben-David

 Gilles Ben - David  (b. October 25th, 1955), is an Israeli actor & Muppeteer who still performs Moishe Oofnik, Israel's answer to  Oscar the Grouch , (as well as  Oscar 's cousin). Fluent in English & French, as well as Hebrew, Ben-David 1st played the role on Rechov Sumsum in 1982. He reprised the part on Shalom Sesame, ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sesame_Street_Stays_Up_Late! Sesame Street Stays Up Late!], the 1997 Rechov Sumsum — Shara'a Simsim co-production with Palestine, live appearances, & most recently, the 2006 revival of Rechov Sumsum''. He also performed Noah on Sippuray Sumsum & trained Muppeteers for the new season of Rechov Sumsum.

As Ben-David recalled in an interview, "Like all good things in life, I got the part of Moishe Oofnik  by accident." He was just out of acting school, & a friend was working as a production assistant on Rechov Sumsum. Ben-David asked if an audition could be arranged:

"Just to know what an audition is like. I didn't even know what the show was about. So he tells me, 'listen, this is an audition for a puppet.' I didn't even know what a puppet was, I never held 1 in my hand. I said, 'I pay taxes, I deserve an audition.' }} He auditioned w/ actor Nathan Dattner. Operating the Grouch, he said, "Come on, I'll fix your pencil," & broke Dattner's prop w/out hesitation. He won the part.

The puppeteer also spoke positively of the brief attempt at collaboration with Palestinian performers & crew: {{quote|Talk about cooperation. Take for example 5 people jammed among wires & monitors, sweating together, & someone says, 'Could you move your leg so I can see the monitor?' You're working with human beings, that's it. It's teamwork. "

Outside of Oofnik, Ben-David's career as a performer has encompassed the Spitting Image-style political puppet series Hartzufim (puppeteering Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy & other figures), as well as stage acting, & reciting Jules Verne in French & Hebrew at the Institut Francais 2005 Science & Imagination conference. On camera, he has appeared in various live-action films, in either English or Hebrew, including the thrillers The Human Shield & The Ambassador & the short film Pepe's Choice, plus episodes of the Israeli TV prison drama Zinzana.

Muppeteer Credits

 * Shalom Sesame :  Moishe Oofnik