Helgi Ilo

She studied at Pööravere Primary School in 1949–1950 and at Pärnu-Jaagup Secondary School in 1950–1960, where she was also the first to graduate with a gold medal. From 1961–1965 she studied at the Tallinn State Conservatory's Department of Performing Arts (2nd year).

She worked as an actor at the Estonian SSR State Youth Theatre in 1965–1975, then as an announcer at Estonian Radio in 1976–1993 and as a personnel manager at Statistics Estonia in 1993–2002.