Gila Almagor Agmon ( he, גילה אלמגור אגמון; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress,

film star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...

, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".

Biography

Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born in Petah Tikva to

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 ...

emigrant parents from Europe. Her German-Jewish father Max Alexandrowitz was killed by an Arab sniper while working as a policeman in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

four months before she was born. Her mother Chaya was from a Polish

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

family. Almagor grew up caring for her mother, who was slowly losing her sanity after realising that all her family in Europe had been murdered in 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; ...

. When her mother was institutionalized in 1954, Almagor was sent to Hadassim

youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...

Two years later, she moved to Tel Aviv, rented a room near

Habima The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

Theatre, and applied to acting school. Although she was underage, she was accepted. Dan Hadani collection (990044376910205171)

At the age of 17, Almagor debuted in Habima's production of ''The Skin of Our Teeth''. Her

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

books ''

Summer of Aviya ''Aviya's Summer'' ( he, הקיץ של אביה; translit. Ha-Kayits Shel Aviya) is a Hebrew-language book that became a bestseller. The 1985 autobiographical novel by theater actress Gila Almagor was made into a film released in 1988. The ...

'' and ''

Under the Domim Tree ''Under the Domim Tree'' ( he, עץ הדומים תפוס, Etz Hadomim Tafus) is a 1994 Israeli film based on the 1992 book of the same name by Gila Almagor. The film was directed by Eli Cohen, and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at ...

'' were both made into films, with Almagor playing her own mother. She was married to Yaakov Agmon, former director of the

Habima Theatre The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

, until his death in 2020. They have two children.

Stage, film and television

Almagor has played leading roles in many plays, among them ''

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

'', ''

Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

'', ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as ...

'', ''Three Sisters'', ''The Bride and the Butterfly Hunt'', ''They Were All My Children'', and ''Medea''. She has appeared in over 50 films, including ''Siege'', '' Queen of the Road'', '' The House on Chelouche Street'', ''

Hide and Seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chose ...

'', '' El Dorado'', ''

Life According to Agfa ''Life According to Agfa'' ( he, החיים על פי אגפא) is a 1993 Israeli psychological-social drama film written and directed by Assi Dayan and produced by Rafi Bukai and Yoram Kislev. Starring Gila Almagor, Shmil Ben Ari, Irit Frank, S ...

'' and '' The Summer of Aviya''. Almagor starred as the mother of Avner, the main character in the 2005 film ''

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

''. She also appears in '' The Debt'', about a former Mossad agent who comes back to kill an escaped

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

doctor. In 2008, she played the role of Lolah Baum in the 100-episode serial ''Dani Hollywood'', broadcast on the Yes satellite network. In 2005, Almagor played a therapist in the award-winning Israeli television series ''

BeTipul ''BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול; lit. ''In Therapy'') is an Israeli television drama revolving around the personal and professional life of an Israeli psychologist, Reuven Dagan, played by Assi Dayan. The series portrays a psychologist who treats ...

''.

Charity work and public service

Almagor founded the ''Gila Almagor Wish Fund'', a charity for sick children, and co-founded AMI – the Israeli Artist Association. She currently serves as chair of cultural activities in the City Council of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

and many other boards to promote the arts for children and in efforts to make international exchange between the Israeli performing arts world and abroad.

Awards and critical acclaim

Almagor has received 10 Kinor David awards for her work in film and theater. She received the Life Achievement Award at the

Jerusalem Film Festival The Jerusalem Film Festival ( he, פסטיבל הקולנוע ירושלים, ar, مهرجان القدس السينمائي) is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, It was established in 1984 by the Director of the Jerusal ...

in 1996, a Life Achievement Award from the Israeli Academy of Cinema in 1997, and the

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

award for best actress in ''

'' at the Berlin Film Festival. In 1995, Almagor received a

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.18th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1996, she was a member of the jury at the

46th Berlin International Film Festival The 46th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1996. The Golden Bear was awarded to British-American film ''Sense and Sensibility'' directed by Ang Lee. The retrospective dedicated to American film director, p ...

. In 1990, she was chosen Actress of the Decade by '' Yediot Ahronoth'' and the Israel Film Institute. In 2004, she was awarded the Israel Prize, for cinema. In 2005, she received a Hans Christian Andersen Ambassadorship. In 2007, she was awarded the Liberitas Film Festival Prize for Lifetime Achievement (Croatia). In 2009,

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...

and

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

awarded her an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

Filmography

* '' El Dorado'' (1963), as Margo * ''

Sallah Shabati ''Sallah Shabati'' ( he, סאלח שבתי) is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmaker ...

'' (1964), as Batsheva Ha'Sosialit (social worker) * ''

Trunk to Cairo ''Trunk to Cairo'' (German: ''Einer spielt falsch'') is a 1965 Israeli-West German international co-production spy film directed by Menahem Golan and starring Audie Murphy and George Sanders. It was distributed by American International Pictures. ...

'' (1965), as Yasmin * '' The House on Chelouche Street'' (1973), as Clara * ''

'' (1993), as Daliah * ''

'' (2005), as Avner's Mother

References

External links

*
Gila Almagor's Short Bio in Hebrew
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almagor, Gila 1939 births Israeli children's writers Israeli film actresses Israeli stage actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israel Prize in cinema recipients Israel Prize women recipients Jewish Israeli actresses Jewish Israeli writers Jewish novelists Jewish women writers Living people Israeli women children's writers Israeli women novelists