Yigal Shilon

Yigal Shilon (Hebrew: יגאל שילון; April 23, 1946 – November 6, 2024) was an Israeli television producer, screenwriter, director, and host, best known for his role in creating popular Israeli prank shows.

Biography Yigal Shilon was born in Tel Aviv in 1946 to working-class Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. After attending the Ironi Daled high school in Tel Aviv he completed a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering at the Technion Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in the Technion, as part of the Israel Defense Forces' Atuda program, and his niece Adi Shilon went on to become a prominent radio and TV presenter.

Film career In the 1980s Shilon directed several Israeli films, primarily in the prank genre. His first major film was "Hayeh Ahaltah Otah" ("Smile, You've Been Tricked") released in 1980, and which was a collaboration with the Israeli comedian Yehuda Barkan. Shilon followed this with two more prank films - "The Big Tease: Here Comes Another One" which was released in 1984, and "Nipagesh BaSivuv" ("See You at the Roundabout") which was released in 1986. Between 1986 and 1990 Shilon directed the commercials for the popular Israeli dairy pudding dessert Milky, featuring Chelli Goldenberg and a young Bar Refaeli. In 1988 he directed the film "Avodah B'Eynaim" starring the comedic duo Lazy Bums.

Starting in 1994 Shilon hosted and directed the television hidden-camera prank show "Fisfusim" which was broadcast on the Israeli Channel 2 for fourteen years.

Personal life and death In 1972 Shilon married Zahava Inbar, who worked many years as a flight attendant for El Al and was later on a lecturer at the international women's organization Wizo. The couple had four children and resided in Tel Aviv. His experience adjusting to this new reality was documented in the film "The Mistake of My Life", which aired on Channel 12. He was buried in the Yarkon Cemetery.