Background
Shmuel Shilo was born in Łuck, eastern Poland (now Lutsk, Ukraine).
Shmuel Shilo was born in Łuck, eastern Poland (now Lutsk, Ukraine).
In 1983 he founded the Negev Theatre and served as its creative director for fifteen years. Following the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland and the creation of the Łuck Ghetto by the German occupation authorities in December 1941, Shmuel (Shmulik, age twelve) was interned in the ghetto along with his family and 20,000 other Polish Jews. He escaped once more, during a prisoner revolt by hiding under a work bench, and survived the war in the forests amongst partisans.
Shilo studied acting and performed regularly in several theatres.
In 1983 he founded the Negev Theatre and served as its art director until 1997. He also acted in several films and television series, best known for his role on the Israeli production of Sesame Street, Rechov SumSum.
He died of cancer at the age of 82.
He was a member of Palmach and was a founding member of Kibbutz Tze"elim.