Israel Shumacher

Israel Shumacher was born in 1908 in Łódź

Shumacher was born in Łódź in 1908, the only child of Feika and Yaakov. He studied at a Hebrew high school in the city. As a teenager he acted in its drama club.

In 1928 he joined the cabaret theater of Moishe Broderzon, where he met Shimon Dzigan. The two formed a comedy duo, moved to Warsaw and made several films in Yiddish. In 1933 Shumacher directed the play Bar Kochba in Łódź.

In 1939 the pair fled to the Soviet Union and kept performing. After trying to join the Anders Army, they were arrested and held in labor camps. They were released in 1946 and later returned to Poland.

The duo immigrated to Israel in 1950. Limits on Yiddish performance led them to work in Argentina for a time, until a compromise allowed them to perform with Hebrew segments. They opened a theater in Tel Aviv in 1958 and split up in 1960.

Shumacher then founded his own theater. He was married to Celina, and their daughter Lydia married Shaike Ophir. He died of kidney disease in 1961 and was buried at Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv.