Gila Almagor

Gila Almagor
Born	(1939-07-22)July 22, 1939 Petah-Tikva,British Mandate of Palestine(nowIsrael)
Nationality	Israeli
Spouse	Yaakov Agmon ​ (m.1963⁠–⁠2020)​
Children	2

Gila Almagor Agmon(Hebrew:גילה אלמגור אגמון;bornGila Alexandrowitz;July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress,film star,and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".

Biography

Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born inPetah TikvatoJewishemigrant parents from Europe.Her German-Jewishfather Max Alexandrowitzwas killed by an Arab sniper while working as a policemaninHaifafour months before she was born.Her mother Chaya was from a PolishOrthodox Jewishfamily.Almagor grew up caring for her mother, who was slowly losing her sanity after realising that all her family in Europe had been murdered in theHolocaust.When her mother was institutionalized in 1954, Almagor was sent to Hadassimyouth village.

Gila Almagor, 1964

Almagor inThe House on Chelouche Street,1973

Two years later, she moved to Tel Aviv, rented a room nearHabimaTheatre, and applied to acting school. Although she was underage, she was accepted.

Gila Almagor, 1969

At the age of 17, Almagor debuted in Habima's production ofThe Skin of Our Teeth.HerautobiographicalbooksSummer of AviyaandUnder the Domim Treewere both made into films, with Almagor playing her own mother. She was married toYaakov Agmon,former director of theHabima Theatre,until his death in 2020.They have two children.

Stage, film and television

Almagor has played leading roles in many plays, among themAnne Frank,Jeanne d'Arc,The Crucible,Three Sisters,The Bride and the Butterfly Hunt,They Were All My Children,andMedea.She has appeared in over 50 films, includingSiege,Queen of the Road,The House on Chelouche Street,Hide and Seek,El Dorado,Life According to AgfaandThe Summer of Aviya.

Almagor starred as the mother of Avner, the main character in the 2005 filmMunich.She also appears inThe Debt,about a formerMossadagent who comes back to kill an escapedNazidoctor. In 2008, she played the role of Lolah Baum in the 100-episode serialDani Hollywood,broadcast on theYes satellite network.In 2005, Almagor played a therapist in the award-winning Israeli television seriesBeTipul.

Charity work and public service

Almagor founded theGila Almagor Wish Fund,a charity for sick children, and co-founded AMI – the Israeli Artist Association. She currently serves as chair of cultural activities in the City Council ofTel Avivand many other boards to promote the arts for children and in efforts to make international exchange between the Israeli performing arts world and abroad.

Awards and critical acclaim

Almagor has received 10Kinor Davidawards for her work in film and theater.

She received the Life Achievement Award at theJerusalem Film Festivalin 1996, a Life Achievement Award from the Israeli Academy of Cinema in 1997, and theSilver Bearaward for best actress inSummer of Aviyaat theBerlin Film Festival.

In 1995, Almagor received aNational Jewish Book AwardforUnder the Domin Tree.

In 1993, she was a member of the jury at the18th Moscow International Film Festival.In 1996, she was a member of the jury at the46th Berlin International Film Festival.

In 1990, she was chosen Actress of the Decade byYediot Ahronothand the Israel Film Institute.In 2004, she was awarded theIsrael Prize,for cinema.In 2005, she received a Hans Christian Andersen Ambassadorship. In 2007, she was awarded the Liberitas Film Festival Prize for Lifetime Achievement (Croatia). In 2009,Ben-Gurion University of the NegevandTel Aviv Universityawarded her anhonorary doctorate.

Filmography

• El Dorado(1963), as Margo
• Sallah Shabati(1964), as Batsheva Ha'Sosialit (social worker)
• Trunk to Cairo(1965), as Yasmin
• The House on Chelouche Street(1973), as Clara
• Life According to Agfa(1993), as Daliah
• Munich(2005), as Avner's Mother

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients
• Women of Israel

External links

• Gila AlmagoratIMDb
• Gila Almagor's Short Bio in Hebrew