Born 1940 in Kraków, Poland, Gila Golan was hidden from the Nazis at a young age, 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.
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.
Golan 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 Israel—“Israel’s Maiden of Beauty” (not Miss Israel).
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).
Gila lives in Florida with her third husband and now runs an investment business.
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