Honor Blackman, who starred as Pussy Galore in the 1964 James Bond film "Goldfinger" has died of natural causes at the age of 94 at home in Sussex in the UK, her family announced Monday.
"As well as being a much adored mother and grandmother, Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent," her family said in a statement.
Before her role as a "Bond girl" alongside Sean Connery, Blackman rose to fame in the UK after starring as the character Cathy Gale in the popular 1960s TV series "The Avengers."
The London-born actress starred in dozens more film, television and stage roles in the UK and the US, including the goddess Hera in "Jason and the Argonauts" and as Laura West in the 1990s sitcom "The Upper Hand."
Some of Blackman's theater roles included productions like The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady and Cabaret.
British director Edgar Wright payed his respects on Twitter, and said Blackman was the "ultimate Bond girl."
Joe McGann, who starred alongside Blackman in The Upper Hand, tweeted: "What a woman she was- fiercely bright, superbly funny and a wonderful actress on screen and onstage."
Blackman's family added she had "an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic."
In playing the role of Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, Blackman once said she considered the character to be a feminist, and not the average Bond girl.
"In so many of the films, the girls just looked at James and fell flat on their backs," Blackman told the magazine TV Times in 2014.
"Yet Pussy Galore was a career woman — a pilot who had her own airforce, which was very impressive. She was never a bimbo."
The James Bond actors
A silver screen version of James Bond has been serving Her Majesty since 1962. Agent 007 has been embodied by six actors to date, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. A look back — and who will be the next?
Image: Imago/Cinema Publishers Collection
The next Bond?
Idris Elba (shown here in the film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower) is used to weapons and action — definitely useful skills with which to shine as agent 007. That would make the London-born star the first black actor to depict the character in the 55-year history of James Bond movies.
Image: picture alliance / Everett Colle
The first Bond: Sean Connery
Portrayed by Scottish actor Sean Connery, the secret agent first appeared on the big screen in 1962. Films then were already rich in action scenes, but 007 was also a figure with major sex appeal. HIV and #MeToo were still ages away, and Bond was proud to be a womanizing misogynist back then. Connery is shown here with Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964).
Image: picture alliance/United Archives
The one-time Bond: George Lazenby
When Connery got tired of the secret agent gig, the Australian George Lazenby replaced him. He played 007 once only though, in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Producers and moviegoers weren't charmed by the former model, so a then-record salary was paid to lure Sean Connery back into the role for Diamonds are Forever (1971). The investment paid off extremely well.
Good-looking, spiced up with a pinch of irony: Roger Moore, the first British-born James Bond actor, was particularly popular. No one took on the role more often: seven times, from 1973 (Live and Let Die) to 1985 (A View to a Kill). Here he is fighting "Jaws" in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Image: dapd
The 'truest' Bond? Timothy Dalton
Many critics felt the way the Welsh-born theater actor Timothy Dalton interpreted Bond was the most faithful to the character in Ian Fleming's novels. The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989) were also box office hits. Producers were therefore eager to keep Dalton in the role — but he preferred to leave.
Shaken, not stirred — that's how Pierce Brosnan's Bond took his martinis too. The Irish actor had actually been offered the role before Timothy Dalton took it on, but before he could become the legendary agent, Brosnan was contractually required to return to the TV series Remington Steele. He embodied 007 four times, including in this last film, Die Another Day (2002).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The blond Bond: Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig was a controversial pick when he first appeared as the new Bond in 2005. The fans found him unimpressive — and too blond. The critiques for Casino Royale (2006, pictured) were nevertheless positive. Craig's fifth — and possibly last — 007 film is to be released in cinemas in 2019.
