Tzvi Shissel

Tzvi Shissel was born in 1946 in Tel Aviv

Tzvi Shissel was born in Tel Aviv in 1946. He attended the Har Nevo elementary school in Tel Aviv and then the Shevach vocational high school.

He served in the IDF Armored Corps Band. After his discharge he acted on stage under Shaike Ophir and in films such as Fifty-Fifty. In 1968 he became Arik Einstein's manager, and in 1969 he founded the Hager company with Einstein and Boaz Davidson.

He produced, wrote for and acted in the television series Lul and was part of the Lul comedy group. He played Gimpel in the 1975 TV film Gimpel the Fool and directed the prank film Funny Israelis in 1978. He also helped initiate the Nuweiba festival in 1977 and 1978.

From 1980 to 1987 he worked in the United States, where he made commercials and worked for Cannon. Back in Israel he made the film Lul in 1988 and later directed and co-wrote Kmo Gdolim and Kvalim with Einstein and Moni Moshonov. He also directed the TV comedy Sefi and the last Eskimo Limon film in 2001.

In 2009 he directed the documentary Yabi about poet Yona Ben Yehuda. He died in 2021 at Ichilov Hospital after a systemic collapse that developed from food poisoning. His family sued the hospital, claiming negligence.