Alluring. International. Deadly. The so-called Bond Girls are, let's face it, the fetish objects the producers hope will keep us coming back to the 007 pictures. (After the watches — the sweet, sweet watches.)
While the internet is loaded with glamour shots of Bond ladies from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, these women are more than mere pin-ups. Indeed, here are some oddball facts about the women in James Bond's life that ought to do you well at a dinner party — provided, of course, that you don't order red wine with fish.
Ursula Andress, the ur-Bond Girl (and not just because it is a pun), became an instant screen icon when she emerged from the Caribbean in her white bikini holding... something, I dunno, I never focused on her hands. But did this Swiss ingenue show any gratitude to the official EON James Bond productions? No! Just a few years after her debut as Honey Ryder in Dr. No she turned around and appeared in a legal loophole “unofficial” James Bond production, 1967's Casino Royale.
Andress wasn't the only one to make a mockery of her Bond Girl status. The woman who played Tatiana Romanova in From Russia With Love, Daniela Bianchi (who came from the Russian section of Italy, apparently), took part in the mockery known as OK Connery, also known as Operation Kid Brother. In it, Neil (brother of Sean) Connery plays a spy called-up as a replacement when his big brother isn't available. The movie has never been released on DVD.
Mie Hama, who played Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice, is notable for what she did before being a Bond Girl. Prior to Hama, most of the women were European models or aspiring actresses who managed to marry well. Hama was a bus conductor. I'm not even 100% sure what a bus conductor is, but I can totally picture her in her native Japan being constructive and forward in modern society. And probably wearing a sharp outfit.
While the internet is loaded with glamour shots of Bond ladies from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, these women are more than mere pin-ups. Indeed, here are some oddball facts about the women in James Bond's life that ought to do you well at a dinner party — provided, of course, that you don't order red wine with fish.
No one said all of these were going to be fun. Remember Ruby Bartlett, the fun loving Yorkshire gal who wrote her room number in lipstick on George Lazenby's inner thigh in On Her Majesty's Secret Service? (You don't? See that movie again.) Anyway, the woman who played her, Angela Scoular, lost a lifelong battle with depression in 2011. She did herself in, however, in just about the most horrible way you can imagine — by dousing herself and ingesting acidic drain cleaner.
“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” That famous quote belongs to Henry Kissinger and, man, he ought to know. This mumbling, downright cloddish policy wonk somehow managed to get Diamonds Are Forever's Tiffany Case (played by Jill St. John) to grant him the most high level of security access. Think about that next time you tune in to Meet the Press.
Maud Adams has the distinction of being the only woman to play a Bond Girl twice. In The Man With the Golden Gun (which also featured Bond Girl Britt Ekland) she plays Christopher Lee's kept woman, and in Octopussy she plays “Octopussy,” and the more I leave to your imagination about why she's called that the better.
While the internet is loaded with glamour shots of Bond ladies from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, these women are more than mere pin-ups. Indeed, here are some oddball facts about the women in James Bond's life that ought to do you well at a dinner party — provided, of course, that you don't order red wine with fish.
Speaking of Britt Ekland (and after looking at these photos, believe me, I'll be speaking about her a lot) that's her moaning in French at the end of then-boyfriend Rod Stewart's “Tonight's The Night.” Ekland, the former wife of Peter Sellers, is actually Swedish, but if she says she's gonna whisper in French on your record, I don't think you tell her no.
I think most of us know that The Spy Who Loved Me's Barbara Bach is married to Ringo Starr. But did we know she was a nice Jewish girl from Queens?!? This, I did not know. Other rock and roll connections: her sister Marjorie (who also changed her last name from Goldenbach to just “Bach”) is married to Joe Walsh!
Bond Girls are known for their wonderful names. Pussy Galore, Dr. Holly Goodhead and Plenty O'Toole are ones that instantly spring to mind. Few, however, top Dutch actress Famke Janssen's character from Goldeneye, the villainous Xenia Onatopp. While Janssen is well known for modeling and the X-Men and Taken movies, never forget that her big break came opposite Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the United Federation of Planets' flagship Galaxy-class starship known as the USS Enterprise (designation NCC-1701-D.)
On the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation she played a Kriosian empathic metamorph (with Trill-like spots) and she fell hard in love with the Captain. (Who wouldn't?!!) The Trek producers offered her the role of Jadzia Dax in the spin-off series Deep Space Nine which she foolishly turned down.
While not technically a Bond Girl (although beauty is in the shot and bleeding eye of the beholder!) let's wrap this up with one of the stranger bits of 007 trivia. The second Bond film, From Russia With Love, features the great, dour, redheaded, implied lesbian villainess Rosa Klebb. You know, the one with the razor in her shoe. She was played by the legend of the Mittel-European stage Lotte Lenya, who originated the role of Jenny Diver in her then-husband Kurt Weill's musical The Threepenny Opera. You've heard her name seven hundred thousand times because it was added into a new verse of lyrics of “Mack the Knife” by Louis Armstrong, which Bobby Darin copied making it the “official” version of the song.
More in Movieline's Bond at 50 celebration:
INTERVIEW: 007 Scion And Skyfall Producer Barbara Broccoli On Growing Up Bond
From Shirley Bassey To Dr. No, The 007 DNA Of Adele’s Skyfall Theme
LISTEN: Adele's 007 Theme Song 'Skyfall' Debuts
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