Aliza Gur
Aliza Gur (Hebrew: עליזה גור; born Alizia Gross, 1 April 1940, Ramat Gan, Mandatory Palestine) is an Israeli actress who was Miss Israel of 1960 and a semifinalist in the Miss Universe pageant held in Miami Beach that same year.[2] Her parents had fled Germany during Hitler's dictatorship and settled in Mandatory Palestine, where she and her brother were born.
Aliza Gur | |
---|---|
Born | Alizia Gross 1 April 1940 |
Nationality | Israeli |
Other names | Aliza Gross Alizia Gur Alizia Gross |
Years active | 1960–1973 |
Spouse(s) | Seymour "Sy" Schulman (1964-1977) Sheldon Schrager (1978–?) (divorced)[1] |
Personal life
Gur was born on 1 April 1940 in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, in Palestine, prior to Israeli statehood. A woman of many talents, she attended the University of Haifa, where she designed and made dresses to help pay for tuition. Her first pageant win was as Miss Haifa.[3][4]
She trained as a combat soldier in the Israeli Army and studied acting in Tel Aviv under Peter Fry, a well known director.[5] After her success in national and international beauty pageants, she settled in California, where she began her film and television career. Her parents emigrated to the United States, as well, and settled in Cleveland, Ohio, for a time; they died in the 1970s. In 1960, she toured America to help support the purchase of Israeli Bonds. Gur married twice, first in 1964 to Sy Shulman, the Director of Hollywood's Cedar of Lebanons Hospital, and next to Sheldon Schrager, and had one son from her first marriage. Both marriages ended in divorce.
Acting career
In 1965, she made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as Dr. Nina Rivelli in "The Case of the Baffling Bug". Her other television credits include The Big Valley, Daniel Boone, Get Smart, The Wild Wild West and Adventures in Paradise. Her film credits include Exodus (1960), A Place to Go (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Night Train to Paris (1964), Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966), Kill a Dragon (1967), The Hand of Night (1968), and her last movie Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968).[6][7][8]
Her most famous role was as one of two fighting gypsies in 1963's James Bond film From Russia with Love, where she fought Miss Jamaica's Martine Beswick.[9] The female lead in the film, Daniela Bianchi, had been Gur's roommate at the 1960 Miss Universe pageant.[6]
Partial filmography
- The Ten Commandments (1956) - Walk on role
- Exodus (1960) - Film debut, small part
- From Russia with Love (1963) - Vida
- The Beauty Jungle (1964) - Miss Peru
- Night Train to Paris (1964) - Catherine Carrel
- Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966) - Mid-Eastern Contact
- Kill a Dragon (1967) - Tisa
- Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968) - Myrna
- The Hand of Night (1968) - Marissa
References
- Profile, glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com; accessed 2 December 2015.
- Tom Lisanti, Louis Paul. Film fatales: women in espionage films and television, 1962-1973. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
- Miami News, Miami, Florida, pg. 13, 19 June 1960
- She designed dresses in "Miss Israel to Visit Syracuse", The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, pg. 9, 12 December 1960
- Independent Star News, Padadena, California, pg. 64, 19 November 1967
- Aliza Gur on IMDb
- Appeared in Adventures in Paradise in "TV Guide", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Honolulu, Hawaii, pg. 75, 15 January 1961
- Appeared in Exodus and A Place to Go in Luft, Herbert, "Hollywood", St. Louis Jewish Light, pg. 20, 6 December 1967
- "Movie Mayhem", The Salem News, Salem, Ohio, pg. 12, 15 October 1963