10:42am UK, Thursday August 20, 2009 Dudu Topaz after being questioned by police in Tel Aviv on June 2 Dudu Topaz, 62, was known in the past as "the king of TV ratings". He had hosted a variety show so popular that homes across the country went dark after he told viewers they should turn off their lights because flying saucers were about to appear. But Topaz, an actor-comedian, was stripped of his prime time slot five years ago when his ratings slumped. He pitched ideas for a comeback to two television executives and an agent last year. But, when they turned him down, he hired thugs who beat them up. Topaz confessed to the crime after his arrest in June, telling a television reporter from the back of a police car: "I don't know what got into me. I went crazy in the head." Over the past two months, he kept repeating: 'I am a good man. I want them to know this. I am someone who does good deeds.' The case catapulted Topaz back into the media spotlight and news of his death has dominated radio and television broadcasts. Prison authorities said the performer was found hanging from an electrical cord in a shower next to his detention cell. It is assumed he took his own life. Days after his arrest, Topaz, a diabetic, tried to kill himself with an insulin overdose, but survived. "The audience's love was important to him," the entertainer's lawyer Zion Amir said on Israel Radio after Topaz's death. "Over the past two months, he kept repeating: 'I am a good man. I want them to know this. I am someone who does good deeds.'" Israel's 'King Of TV' Hangs Himself In Jail
Israel's former top TV entertainer has hanged himself in jail - bringing a dramatic end to a saga of faded stardom and violence.
Topaz's lawyer Zion Amir
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