Gila Golan
| Gila Golan | |
|---|---|
Gila Golan in 1966
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| Born |
December 30, 1940 Kraków, Poland |
| Other names | גילה גולן; Miriam Goldberg |
| Occupation | Model and actress |
| Years active | 1964–1985 |
| Spouse(s) | Alex Urban (?-1968) Matthew Bernard Rosenhaus (1969–1980) (his death) Third husband? |
| Children | Sarita Agnes (b. 1970) Hedy Loretta (b. 1975) |
Gila Golan (Hebrew: גילה גולן; born 1940) (originally Zoshia Zavatski) is a Polish-born, Israeli former fashion model and actress.
Golan was born in Kraków, Poland, around 1940. Her exact birthday is unknown, as she was hidden from the Nazis at a young age. However, she has adopted the birthday of December 30, 1940, for herself. She was found, as an abandoned baby, on the streets of Kraków. A Roman Catholic family found her left in a bundle at a train station during the Holocaust, and adopted her during the war. Her adopted family named her Zoshia Zavatski. After the war, she went to a home for 'lost' Jewish children. Arriving in Israel in 1951, with the name Zusia Sobetzcki, she became Miriam Goldberg and continued her schooling in an Orthodox girls' boarding school. Within a few years she had joined a Kibbutz and was studying to be a teacher.
She was spotted by an American photographer and ultimately ended up in the Israeli women's magazine LaIsha. Her new fame launched her to the 1960 national fashion competition, where she won first place and was crowned as "Na'arat Israel", i.e. Israel's Maiden of Beauty (IMB) (not Miss Israel,) 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 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 started her film career with the role of Elsa Lutz in his 1965 film Ship of Fools. She continued to establish herself in Our Man Flint (1966), Three on a Couch (1966), Catch as Catch Can (1967), and The Valley of Gwangi (1969).
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