Gila Almagor is an Israeli actress, film star, and author
Background
Gila Almagor was born four months after the death of her father, Max Alexandrowitz, a Jewish immigrant from Germany who was killed by an Arab sniper while working as a policeman in Haifa. Almagor grew up caring for her mother, Chaya, who was slowly losing her sanity after realising that all her family in Germany had perished in the Holocaust. When her mother was institutionalized in 1954, Almagor was sent to Hadassim youth village.
Career
In Israel she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre". Two years later, she moved to Tel Aviv, rented a room near Habima Theatre and applied to acting school. Although she was underage, she was accepted.
At the age of 17, Almagor debuted in Habima"s production of The Skin of Our Teeth.
They have two children. Almagor has played leading roles in many plays, among them Anne Frank, Jeanne d"Arc, The Crucible, Three Sisters, The Bride and the Butterfly Hunt, They Were All My Children and Medea.
She has appeared in over 40 films, including "Siege", "Queen of the Road", "The House on Chelouche Street", "El Dorado", "Life According to Agfa" and "The Summer of Aviya." Almagor starred as the mother of Avner, the main character in the 2005 film Munich. She also appears in The Debt, about a former Mossad agent who comes back to kill an escaped Nazi doctor.
In 2008 she played the role of Lolah Baum in the 100-episode serial Dani Hollywood, broadcast on the Yes satellite network.
In 2005, Almagor played a therapist in the award-winning Israeli television series BeTipul. Almagor founded the Gila Almagor Wish Fund, a charity for sick children and co-founded International Medical Association – the Israeli Artist Association. She currently serves as chair of cultural activities in the City Council of Tel Aviv and many other boards to promote the arts for children and in efforts to make international exchange between the Israeli performing arts world and abroad.
Membership
In 1993 she was a member of the jury at the 18th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1996 she was a member of the jury at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.