Elana Eden ( he, אילנה עדן; born Elana Lani Cooper, 1 May 1940) is an Israeli actress of film, television, and stage, best known for her film debut as the title role in

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

's biblical epic '' The Story of Ruth'' (1960).

Early life

Eden was born in

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a populat ...

, Tel Aviv District, British Mandate of Palestine. Her father, Zvi Cooper, was a Polish-born landscape gardener who had settled in Palestine after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Her mother (born 1910) was born in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. She has two older siblings: a brother Moti and a sister Tamar. She learned English at school and later attended high school at 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 ...

of the Sharon plain. She worked as a writer for Tel Aviv's newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

''. Eden decided to become an actress after seeing a performance of

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's play '' Pygmalion'' when she was 15 years old. She won a scholarship to study acting at Israel's Habima Theatre Drama School and made her stage debut in the play ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

'', which she performed over 50 times in various locations in Israel.

Career

After having served as a machine gunner and volunteer with the Israeli Army, Eden auditioned for the film ''

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Neth ...

'' in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1957, and she was one of the five finalists for the part until Millie Perkins was cast. Elana Eden

When searching for an actress to play the title role in

's CinemaScope biblical epic '' The Story of Ruth'' (1960), producer Samuel G. Engel remembered her previous screen test for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' and Eden arrived in Hollywood in August 1959 to do more screen tests for the part of Ruth. Of the 29 actresses who were tested, Eden was cast as Ruth. The film crew changed her stage name from "Elana Cooper" to "Elana Eden," because "Cooper did not sound

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 ...

.""Elana Eden - The Private Life and Times"
''glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com''. Retrieved 26 February 2011 For the film, she lost 10 pounds in three weeks, giving up "bread and butter, sour cream, rich sauces and cakes" for "steak, cottage cheese and fresh fruit." Of her portrayal, '' Variety'' wrote: "She gives a performance of dignity, projecting an inner strength through a delicate veneer." Daniel A. Poling, editor of the ''Christian Herald'', thought that Eden's portrayal of Ruth was "worthy of an Oscar." Her performance was also complimented by columnist Hedda Hopper. After her appearance in ''The Story of Ruth'', Eden appeared in several television series in both the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and

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 ...

. In February 1961, she played Shasme Hasmar in the '' Adventures in Paradise'' episode "Who Is Sylvia?". She played another role, a young Czech woman named Anna, in '' The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' episode "The Hitch-Hiker" (1961). She also appeared in '' Trunk to Cairo'' (1966), starring Audie Murphy, George Sanders, and Marianne Koch, and the 1968 episode "The Revolutionary" of ''

The Name of the Game Name of the Game may refer to: Television * ''The Name of the Game'' (TV series), a 1968–1971 American drama ** ''Fame Is the Name of the Game'', a 1966 American television film and pilot for the series * "The Name of the Game" (''Grey's Anato ...

''.

Personal life

Eden married Israeli author and playwright

Nissim Aloni Nissim Aloni ( he, נסים אלוני, 24 August 1926 – 13 June 1998) was an Israeli playwright and translator. Biography Aloni was born Nissim Levi to poor Bulgarian Jewish immigrant parents in Mandate Palestine. His family lived in Florenti ...

in 1962 and later divorced him in 1965. She later married American composer Fredric "Fred" Myrow on 6 June 1969. They had three daughters: Rachael, Shira, and Neora. Eden was a speaker at the "kickoff" dinner for the 1967

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), ...

campaign and the Modesto Jewish Welfare in Modesto, California.

Filmography

Television

Plays

* ''

'' * ''Tuvia Ha'Choleh'' * ''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eden, Elana 1940 births 20th Century Studios contract players Living people Israeli film actresses Israeli stage actresses Israeli television actresses Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli actresses People from Bat Yam