Aliza Gur (Hebrew: עליזה גור, born Alizia Gross; 1 April 1940) is an Israeli actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Israel 1960 and a semifinalist at the Miss Universe 1960 held in Miami Beach.[2] She played Vida in the James Bond film From Russia with Love in 1963.
Born Alizia Gross on 1 April 1940 in Ramat Gan, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel), to a family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her parents had fled Nazi Germany during Hitler's dictatorship and settled in the city of Ramat Gan where she and her brother were born. She studied at 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 was enlisted as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Gur also 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.
Her most famous role was as Vida, 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]
Personal life
Gur married twice, first in 1964 to Sy Shulman, the director of Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, and next to Sheldon Schrager, film producer and vice-president of Columbia Pictures, in charge of production,[10] and she had one son from her first marriage. Both marriages ended in divorce.[citation needed]
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