Israeli Star Of James Bond Spoofs Dies At 74

Image by Twitter/@THRGlobal
In 1967, Daliah Lavi did what a number of women have likely dreamed of doing since: She poisoned Woody Allen.
Well, not quite. Starring opposite him in the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale,” she tricked him into swallowing an atomic pill that turned him into a human nuclear bomb — the science on this is not so clear — foiling his myriad evil plots.

Woody Allen and Daliah Lavi in the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale.” Image by Twitter/@AvengersTvShow
Lavi, who passed away on May 3 at age 74, became famous playing such roles: Femme fatales in over-the-top spy spoofs. Born Daliah Lewinbuk in the village Shavi Zion in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, Lavi’s career as a performer got started when Kirk Douglas made “The Jugglers,” filming close to her hometown. Then 10 years old, she met the actor and director, who arranged for her to go to Stockholm to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer.
She never let go of that dream; a New York Times obituary reported that in 1964, after filming “Lord Jim” with Hollywood legend Peter O’Toole, she told The Boston Globe “I don’t really care about an acting career. I’d rather be a dancer.” Low blood pressure got in the way, so she turned to acting and modeling. Her career was wildly varied, from “Lord Jim,” to the aforementioned farcical James Bond spin-offs of the 70s; in 1960, she starred both in “Candide,” an adaptation of the famous satire by Voltaire, and “Blazing Sand,” an Israeli-made film that The Guardian, in an obituary, colorfully described as a “matzo western.”
Once her film career petered out in the wake of “Catlow,” an uninspiring Western that co-starred Yul Brynner and Leonard Nimoy. Lavi turned to music, becoming a popular singer in Germany, where she also acted in television shows.
At the end of her life, after a career that had spanned continents, mediums, and genres, Lavi was living in North Carolina with her fourth husband, Charles Gans, who confirmed her death to the Times but did not share its cause. She is survived by him, as well as three sons and one daughter, a sister, and six grandchildren.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.