Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv in November 4 1935. In 1952, he graduated high school and did his military service in an army entertainment troupe.By 1956, he was a popular stand-up comedian. In 1960, he studied philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In the 1960s, he directed and starred in a number Israeli films. He was the first filmmaker to win the Israel Prize, which he declined.

Uri Zohar at the microphone, performing with the Loul group for soldiers during the Yom Kippur War (1973)

In the late 1970s, Zohar turned to religion, becoming a Haredi Orthodox Jew and a rabbi. In 1977, he began wearing a kippa on the television game show he was hosting. He is active in the movement to attract secular Jews to religious orthodoxy, and uses his entertainment skills to promote this objective. In the 1992 Israeli elections, Zohar directed the television broadcasts for Shas.