Gila Golan ( he, גילה גולן; born 1940, originally Zosia Zawadzka) is an

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Biography

Golan was born in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland, around 1940. Her exact birthday is unknown, as she was hidden from the Nazis at a young age, but she has adopted the date of December 30, 1940, as her birthday. A

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family found her left in a bundle at a train station during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and adopted her during the war. Her adopted family named her Zoshia Zavatski. After the war, she went to a home for 'lost'

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

children. Arriving in Israel in 1951, with the name Zusia Sobetzcki, she became Miriam Goldenberg and continued her schooling in an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

girls'

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

. Within a few years she had joined a

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

and was studying to be a teacher. She was spotted by an American photographer and later appeared in the Israeli

women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *'' Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *''All ...

'' LaIsha''. Her new fame landed her a spot in the 1960 national fashion competition, where she won first place and was crowned as ''Na'arat Israel''—"Israel's Maiden of Beauty" (IMB) (not

Miss Israel Miss Israel ( he, מַלְכַּת הַיֹּפִי, , ) is a national beauty pageant in Israel. The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. The pageant was also existing to send delegates to Miss World, Miss I ...

), though she changed her name to Gila Golan to prevent word getting back to her religiously conservative benefactors. After receiving second place in that year's

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...

competition as Israel's representative, she was sent to the United States to raise funds. While modeling in New York, she won a contract with Columbia Pictures. Director

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...

started her film career with the role of Elsa Lutz in his 1965 film ''

Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

''. She continued to establish herself in ''

Our Man Flint ''Our Man Flint'' is a 1966 American spy-fi comedy film that parodies the ''James Bond'' film series. The film was directed by Daniel Mann, written by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr (from a story by Hal Fimberg), and starred James Coburn as master ...

'' (1966), ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...

'' (1966), ''

Three on a Couch ''Three on a Couch'' is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Jerry Lewis and starring Jerry Lewis and Janet Leigh. Plot Christopher Pride wants to marry his girlfriend, Dr. Elizabeth Acord. However, she is too involved with her patients and s ...

'' (1966), '' Catch as Catch Can'' (1967), and ''

The Valley of Gwangi ''The Valley of Gwangi'' is a 1969 American fantasy Western film produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, directed by Jim O'Connolly, written by William Bast, and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, and Gila Golan. Creature ...

'' (1969).

Personal life

Golan married Alex Urban but divorced during the 1960s. In 1969, she married

Geritol Geritol is a United States trademarked name for various dietary supplements, past and present. Geritol is a brand name for several vitamin complexes plus iron or multimineral products in both liquid form and tablets, containing from 9.5 to 18&nb ...

tycoon Matthew (Matty) Bernard Rosenhaus. (Rosenhaus may be best known as one of the

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

board members portrayed unflatteringly in the Hollywood non-fiction book ''Indecent Exposure'' by David McClintick.) Golan and Rosenhaus had three daughters, Sarita, Hedy, and Loretta, before Rosenhaus died of a heart attack in 1980.Gila Golan – The Private Life and Times of Gila Golan. Gila Golan Pictures
Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved on 2014-05-09. Gila has become very involved in Judaism with a special interest in music and singing (cantors). She lives in Florida with her third husband and now runs an investment business.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Golan, Gila 1940 births Actresses from Kraków Israeli beauty pageant winners Israeli female models Israeli film actresses Living people Miss World 1960 delegates Polish emigrants to Israel Miss Israel delegates