Gila Golan () is an Israeli actress and former model.

Early life

Golan does not know when or where she was born. Her parents were murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and she was adopted by Zoshia Zawatcki, who saw her wandering the streets of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. She was given the name Zoshia Zavatski by her Polish family and renamed to Mara Goldenberg in Israel. She also used the names Miriam Goldenberg and Gila Goldenberg. Golan attended a

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

boarding school in

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie.kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

for four years. Golan was not

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

into the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

due to her not knowing her age.

Career

Golan was spotted by an American photographer and 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 woman, women. Currently published *''10 Magazine (UK), 10 Magazine'' (UK – distributed worldwide) *''Al Jam ...

'' LaIsha''. In 1960, she was the runner-up for

Miss Israel Miss Israel (also referred to as , , ) was a national beauty pageant in Israel. The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History In the late 1920s, a "Esther, Queen Esther Beauty Pageant" was held in Tel Avi ...

behind Aliza Gur. She placed second in the Miss World 1960 competition and changed her name to Gila Golan to prevent the religiously conservative family she lived with in Tel Aviv from learning about it. She was sent to the United States to raise funds after the competition. In June 1964, Golan signed a contract with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. Her first role was as Elsa Lutz in '' Ship of Fools'' as a replacement for Sabin Singen, who dropped out due to illness. She was given acting lessons by

Herbert Berghof Herbert Berghof (September 13, 1909 – November 5, 1990) was an American actor, director and acting teacher.Kennedy, Dennis. ''The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance'', Oxford Univ. Press (2010) p. 61 Early life Berghof was born in ...

. The

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who reported on the American entertainment industry for predominantly foreign media markets. It is best known for founding and conduc ...

selected her to hand out the awards for the 22nd Golden Globe Awards. Golan starred 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 maste ...

'', which was banned in Lebanon due to her being an Israeli citizen. She also appeared in '' The Valley of Gwangi'' and '' Three on a Couch''. Golan ended her career in 1969, citing her poor pay of $150 a week for ''Our Man Flint'' while Columbia earned $1,500 as she was on loan, and said that her former agent was sabotaging her career. In the 1980s she aided the fundraising and organization of the 2nd Israel Film Festival.

Personal life

Golan married Alex Urban in 1964, but became separated in 1965, and divorced in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

, Mexico, in 1967. She married Matthew Bernard Rosenhaus on September 16, 1969, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, and had three children with him. Rosenhaus became the largest stockholder in Columbia in 1973. The city of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

ceremonially adopted Golan on April 29, 1966, with Mayor James d'Orma Braman as her godfather. She became a citizen of the United States in 1969. Golan sold her apartment at

The Pierre The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 61st Street (Manhattan), East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze and Weaver, Schultze & Weaver, th ...

for $10 million in 2014. She now lives in Florida with her third husband.

Filmography

References

Works cited

* *

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