Mona Silberstein was an actor and model. In her teens, Silberstein was a regular frequenter of legendary Tel Aviv hotspot, Café Kassit, and soon became a fixture of the local Bohemian scene. At the age of 18, she appeared in Daniel Mann’s 1966 film, Judith, which was filmed in Israel, playing Sophia Loren’s double. Silberstein is especially known for her memorable performance in Uri Zohar’s 1972 cult classic, Peeping Toms, where she played the role of Dina. In the early 1970s, already boasting a sizeable film acting CV from her native Israel, Silberstein headed across the Atlantic to study acting in New York City’s legendary Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute.
However, Silberstein’s film career took a dark turn when she became dependent on drugs – an addiction that led to a series of arrests, hospitalisations, and repeated attempts at rehab. Following an eight-year hiatus, a clean and sober Silberstein returned to acting in Rachel Michaeli’s Foreign Body (1985, 11min) which, tragically, also ended up becoming her final film role. In 1988, Mona Silberstein died of a heroin overdose. She was 40 years old. Director Shmuel Imberman’s 1993 film, Overdose, was inspired by Silberstein’s life story.
Highlights of Silberstein’s film credits include Katz and Carrasso (Menahem Golan, 1971), Two Heartbeats (Shmuel Imberman, 1972), Azit: The Paratrooper Dog (‘azit hakalba hatzanhanit’) (Boaz Davidson, 1972), Schwartz: The Brave Detective (Ami Artzi & Lloyd Kaufman, 1973), Saint Cohen (Assi Dayan, 1977), Operation Thunderbolt (Menahem Golan, 1977), and Gonev Miganav Patoor (‘it’s no crime to steal from a thief’) (Ze’ev Revach, 1987).