Cohen was born in Sofia to a Bulgarian Jewish family. He attended the National Academy of Music and played at Sofia's National Theatre. In 1949, Cohen and his family emigrated to Israel and he, Yaakov Bodo and several other performers were among the members of a musicial group within the Southern Command where he has acted, sung and accompanied himself on the accordion. He left the group in 1952 and joined a satirical theatre group. Since 1966, Cohen has frequently acted at the Cameri Theatre and done numerous adaptations of The Comedy of Errors, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Government Inspector, Les Misérables. Cohen also made appearances at the HaNephesh Theatre and he has even directed several plays written by Anton Chekhov in 2013. In 1964, Cohen made his debut film appearance in Sallah Shabati starring Chaim Topol. His other film appearances include the 1969 filmBlaumilch Canal directed by Ephraim Kishon and the 2005 filmTo Take a Wife directed by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz. Cohen has also made appearances on television. In 1987, he appeared as a guest star on Parpar Nechmad. He is also renowned for appearing in the comic series Zanzouri. He made further guest appearances on Polishuk and Bnot HaZahav. Cohen is also a renowned voice dubber. He has voiced numerous characters in the Hebrew dubbing of Sesame Street. His other roles include Mr. Smee in Peter Pan, Merlin in The Sword in the Stone, King Harold in the Shrek franchise, Toby in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise, Anger in Inside Out, Vitruvius in The Lego Movie, Professor Derek Knight in Monsters University, Bulldog in Planes and many more. Cohen has collaborated frequently with his son, Sharon Cohen on many dubbing projects.
Personal life
Cohen has married twice. His first wife, who was a pianist for the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, died from multiple sclerosis in 1988. They had two sons, Ady and Sharon, who is a voice actor and translator. His granddaughter Lenny is also an actress. Cohen has resided in Ramat Gan since 1960.
