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Adelson turns real-life stories into award-winning TV
TV producer Orly Adelson is known for her firsts: She produced ESPN's first original dramatic series, Playmakers ; Discovery Channel's first movie, Twelve Days of Terror ; and Comedy Central's first original made-for-TV movie, Porn and Chicken . Since 1995, when she formed Orly Adelson Productions, she has added a host of acclaimed shows to her r貵m笠But unlike most Hollywood success stories, she credits her perseverance to the Israeli Army.
Adelson earned her lieutenant's stripes on the officer's track, a grueling regime that weeds out nearly 50% of female applicants. Training was so difficult, her father, a high-ranking army officer, had to force her to return to base after military leave. "If you can survive it," she admits, "you think you're the best thing."
That confidence sustained her through a tough academic career. Adelson simultaneously earned degrees from Hebrew University and Jerusalem's famed Academy of Music & Dance. But her move to the U.S. was kismet. At a party in 1981, she met Andrew Adelson, who was in...