Actress Caroline Langford, who became known in Israel for her roles in prank films and was the ex-wife of Assi Dayan and mother of Lior Dayan, has died at age 68. She died Friday of cancer.
Caroline Langford was born in London in 1958 to Shirley and Barry Langford, who worked as a television director in Britain and later in Israel. The family immigrated to Israel when Caroline was 14.
She began her career as a singer but later became known as an actress in the 1980s, appearing in films including "Girls," "King for a Day" and "Am Yisrael Hai." She was particularly associated with the prank films of Yehuda Barkan and Yigal Shilon, including "Hayeh Ahaltah Otah" and "Nipagesh Bachof."
Langford was married to actor and director Assi Dayan, whom she met while appearing in his film "King for a Day." She won the Kinor David award for her performance in the film.
The couple had a son, Lior Dayan. After their divorce, Lior was placed with a foster family at Kibbutz Dvir in the Negev, while Langford left Israel, first for London and later for New York. She married again and had a second child, a daughter, Daniela, before that marriage also ended in divorce. She later met Gil Bankstein, a former Israeli, and married him. The couple lived together in Los Angeles.
Langford with her children, Daniela and Lior, in 2016
(Photo: Rafi Deloya)
Langford previously spoke to ynet about her relationship with Dayan, who died in 2014. "We had a very good relationship in recent years. I met him every time I came to Israel. The last time I saw Assi, we talked about how we had become grandparents. He was very happy about it," she said.
Over the past decade, Langford appeared in several Israeli television series, including "Sisters." In 2013, she also appeared alongside her son Lior on the reality series "Connected." In 2020, she appeared in "Normal," a series created by her son and inspired by his own life, playing his mother.
Langford at Assi Dayan's memorial service
(Photo: Motti Kimchi)
"Of course, Lior is my biggest scar," she told ynet in an interview. "For years, I was haunted by guilt over how I could leave him when he was 2 and why he had to grow up with a foster family on a kibbutz.
"Today I understand that I suffered from postpartum depression, but back then it wasn't recognized, and Assi certainly didn't make things any easier for me during that period. I was convinced I was a terrible person. I left Israel after four years, after I got divorced, and no one thought to ask why Assi wasn't raising Lior. The woman is always the one who gets blamed."
Langford eventually managed to rebuild her relationship with her son and later helped him through drug rehabilitation.
"Lior and I had a healing experience," she said. "I was here with him for two and a half years during his rehabilitation. Today we're in a different place. We have a wonderful relationship."