Aliza Gur

Aliza Gur (Hebrew: עליזה גור, born Alizia Gross; 1 April 1940) 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. 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. 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. 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.