Aliza Gur ( he, עליזה גור, born Alizia Gross; 1 April 1940) is an Israeli actress who was

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 ...

of 1960 and a semifinalist in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

pageant held in Miami Beach that same year. She played Vida in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' From Russia with Love'' in 1963.

Early life

Born Alizia Gross on 1 April 1940 in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

(now

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

), to a family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her parents had fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during Hitler's dictatorship and settled in the city of Ramat Gan where she and her brother were born. She studied at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming ...

, where she designed and made dresses to help pay for tuition. Her first pageant win was as Miss

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 ...

.She designed dresses in "Miss Israel to Visit Syracuse", ''The Post-Standard'', Syracuse, New York, pg. 9, 12 December 1960 She was enlisted as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Gur also and studied acting in Tel Aviv under Peter Fry, a well known director. After her success in national and international beauty pageants, she settled in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where she began her film and television career. Her parents emigrated to the United States, as well, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, for a time; they died in the 1970s. In 1960, she toured America to help support the purchase of Israeli Bonds.

Acting career

In 1965, she made a guest appearance on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' as Dr. Nina Rivelli in "The Case of the Baffling Bug". Her other television credits include '' The Big Valley'', ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

'', ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...

'', '' The Wild Wild West'' and '' Adventures in Paradise''. Her film credits include ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'' (1960), ''

A Place to Go ''A Place to Go'' is a 1963 British crime drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Bernard Lee, Rita Tushingham and Michael Sarne. Set in contemporary Bethnal Green in the East End of London, it charted the dramatic changes that were ...

'' (1962), '' From Russia with Love'' (1963), ''

Night Train to Paris ''Night Train to Paris'' is a 1964 British-American spy film starring Leslie Nielsen, Aliza Gur and Dorinda Stevens. Plot Former OSS officer Alan Holiday is visited by Catherine Carrel on New Year's Eve, Carrel says she's a close friend of Jule ...

'' (1964), '' Agent for H.A.R.M.'' (1966), '' Kill a Dragon'' (1967), '' The Hand of Night'' (1968), and her last movie '' Tarzan and the Jungle Boy'' (1968). Her most famous role was as Vida of two fighting gypsies in 1963's

film '' From Russia with Love'', where she fought Miss Jamaica's Martine Beswick."Movie Mayhem", ''The Salem News'', Salem, Ohio, pg. 12, 15 October 1963 The female lead in the film, Daniela Bianchi, had been Gur's roommate at the 1960 Miss Universe pageant.

Personal life

Gur married twice, first in 1964 to Sy Shulman, the Director of Hollywood's

Cedars of Lebanon Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over ...

, and next to Sheldon Schrager, and had one son from her first marriage. Both marriages ended in divorce.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gur, Aliza 1944 births 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Israeli actresses American film actresses American people of German-Jewish descent American television actresses Israeli emigrants to the United States Israeli film actresses Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Jewish American actresses Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Living people Miss Israel winners Miss Universe 1960 contestants People from Ramat Gan 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women