Gila Almagor Agmon (; born Gila Alexandrowitz; 22 July 1939) is an Israeli actress and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre".

Biography

Gila Alexandrowitz (Almagor) was born in Petah Tikva to Jewish emigrant parents from Europe. Her German-Jewish Her mother Chaya was from a Polish Orthodox Jewish family. When her mother was institutionalized in 1954, Almagor was sent to Hadassim youth village.

thumb|upright=0.75|Gila Almagor, 1967

At the age of 17, Almagor debuted in Habima's production of The Skin of Our Teeth. Her autobiographical books Summer of Aviya and Under the Domim Tree were both made into films, with Almagor playing her own mother. She was married to Yaakov Agmon, former director of the Habima Theatre, until his death in 2020.

Awards and critical acclaim

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

She received the Life Achievement Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival in 1996, a Life Achievement Award from the Israeli Academy of Cinema in 1997. For Summer of Aviya, she got the Silver Bear award for best actress at the Berlin Film Festival and the 1988 Silver Menorah Award for best actress.

In 1995, Almagor received a National Jewish Book Award for Under the Domin Tree.

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.

In 1990, she was chosen Actress of the Decade by Yediot Ahronoth and the Israel Film Institute. 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 Negev and Tel Aviv University awarded her an honorary 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
  • The Rose Garden (1989), as Ruth
  • Life According to Agfa (1993), as Daliah
  • Munich (2005), as Avner's Mother

See also

  • List of Israel Prize recipients
  • Women of Israel

References

  • Gila Almagor's Short Bio in Hebrew