Gila Golan (Hebrew: ×'יל×" ×'ולן‎; born 1940, originally Zosia
Zawadzka) is an 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, but she has adopted
the date of December 30, 1940, as her birthday. A 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 Goldenberg 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 later appeared in the Israeli women's
magazine LaIsha. Her new fame landed her a spot in the 1960 national
fashion competition, where she won first place and was crowned as
Na'arat Israelâ€""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), I Dream of Jeannie
(1966),Three on a Couch (1966), Catch as Catch Can (1967), and The
Valley of Gwangi (1969).
Zawadzka) is an 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, but she has adopted
the date of December 30, 1940, as her birthday. A 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 Goldenberg 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 later appeared in the Israeli women's
magazine LaIsha. Her new fame landed her a spot in the 1960 national
fashion competition, where she won first place and was crowned as
Na'arat Israelâ€""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), I Dream of Jeannie
(1966),Three on a Couch (1966), Catch as Catch Can (1967), and The
Valley of Gwangi (1969).
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