The success of the James Bond franchise is due in large part to the iconic women who came to be known as “Bond girls.” We’ve recently discovered what these beautiful, mysterious, and intriguing women are up to these days. Some of their stories might surprise you.
Claudine Auger – Domino
Claudine Auger is a French actress and former Miss France Monde. While on holiday in Nassau, writer-producer Kevin McClory spotted her and suggested she audition for his new film, Thunderball. She took his advice and ended up with the part of Domino, which was originally written for an Italian actress. Because Auger impressed the producers so much, they adjusted to part to fit a French woman. Despite her efforts to perfect her English, her voice was eventually dubbed over by Nikki van der Zyl.
Claudine Auger – Now
Claudine Auger’s performance in Thunderball was the start of a long successful career in European film. Unfortunately, she never really broke through the US industry again following her time as a Bond girl. Auger has remained close with fellow Bond-girls, appearing alongside Ursula Andress in the 1968 Italian comedy, Anyone Can Play, and alongside future Bond girls Barbara Bach and Barbara Bouchet in Black Belly of the Tarantula. Her last movie was 1997’s The Red and the Black, which featured Bond girl, Carole Bouquet.
Mie Hama – Kissy Suzuki
Before Mie Hama was a Bond girl, she was one of Japan’s most popular actresses, appearing in over 60 movies. Hama became famous in Western cinema when she portrayed the Bond girl Kissy Suzuki in 1967’s You Only Live Twice. Along with her co-star, Akiko Wakabayashi, Hama was one of the first Asian Bond girls. She was originally meant to play Wakabayashi’s character, Aki, but because of Hama’s poor English, the two traded roles and her voice was overdubbed by Nikki van der Zyl.
Mie Hama – Now
Following her time as a Bond girl, Mie Hama left acting, telling the New York Times in a 2017 article that she was interested in pursuing a normal life in Japan. Hama is now a dedicated environmentalist and advocate for the preservation of old farms and farming techniques. She is a big supporter of Japan’s natural wonders and anything having to do with preserving the environment. Hama is now the author of 14 books, as well as a television and radio host.
Diana Rigg – Tracy Bond
Before becoming the wife of James Bond, Diana Rigg got her big break playing Emma Peel in the 1960’s television series The Avengers. Rigg was then cast as Tracy bond in the 1969 Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. While it was originally planned that Rigg’s character would remain in the Bond movies for the 1971 film, Diamonds Are Forever, this idea was dropped during the filming of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service when George Lazenby chose to step down from playing James Bond.
Diana Rigg – Now
Diana Rigg, now almost 80 years old, has remained busy, landing roles in film, television, and theater since her time as a bond girl in the 1960s. In the past few years, she is most recognizable from her role as the noble Olenna Tyrell on the popular HBO series, Game of Thrones. In addition, Rigg has recently appeared in an episode of Dr. Who, as well as the Broadway production of My Fair Lady. Throughout her career, she has been an outspoken critic of feminism.
Shirley Eaton – Jill Masterson
Shirley Eaton is an English actress who was popular in British film throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1964, Eaton became the Bond girl Jill Masterson in the film Goldfinger. In the film, Jill Masterson dies of skin suffocation after being covered from head to toe in gold paint. The gold lifeless body of Jill Masterson became one of the most striking shots from the entire Bond series. The iconic image was even featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1964.
Shirley Eaton – Now
Following her character’s bizarre death in Goldfinger, rumors emerged that Shirley Eaton had actually died during filming. Eaton appeared in a 2003 episode of Myth Busters to dispel the urban myth. Shirley made a few more films in the late 1960s before retiring to spend more time with family in 1969. In a 1999 interview with Starlog magazine, she supported her own decision to leave acting by saying, “A career is a career, but you’re a mother until you die.”
Maud Adams – Andrea Anders/Octop*ssy
Former Swedish supermodel Maud Adams was so great at beeing a Bond girl that she was actually cast twice and appeared in a total of three Bond films. First, she was Andrea Anders in 1974’s The Man With The Golden Gun. Critics applauded her performance as “tough but haunted.” Almost a decade later, she returned to play the exotic and mysterious lead title character in 1983’s Octop*ssy. Adams also made an uncredited appearance as an extra in 1985’s A View To Kill.
Maud Adams – Now
In the 1990’s, Maud Adams hosted a Swedish TV show called Kafe Lulea and was also featured in a guest role on the Swedish soap opera Vita Iogner. While she has not seen the screen in a Bond movie since the 1980’s, Maud Adams has remained close to the Bond producers and frequently attends premieres and other Bond-related events. In 2000, Adams guest-starred on an episode of That ’70s Show alongside three other former Bond girls- Tanya Roberts, Kristina Wayborn, and Barbara Carrera.
Grace Jones – May Day
Before Grace Jones was a Bond girl, she was a well-established model in New York City. In the late 1970s, Jones started making electronic music. While her music never caught on in the US, she made a lasting impact in Europe, where she still tours today. Her acting career began with some appearances in low-budget films before her first mainstream role in 1984’s Conan the Destroyer. A year later she became May Day, the henchwoman with superhuman strength, in A View to a Kill.
Grace Jones – Now
After portraying May Day in Roger Moore’s final James Bond film, Grace Jones continued to act, model, and make music. She has appeared in Vamp, Boomerang, Wolf Girl, and numerous documentaries. Her unique androgynous style has inspired countless popular artists including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. In 1998, Jones was featured in promotional spots during a James Bond marathon on the USA Network. She appeared between movies or before commercial breaks as a laughing flight attendant on an out-of-control flight.
Martine Beswick – Zora/Paula Caplan
Martine Beswick is an English actress and model born in Jamaica. Her first big role was in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love, playing the feisty gypsy girl Zora. Her portrayal of Zora is most recognizable for the infamous “catfight” scene with her rival and fellow Bond girl Aliza Gur. While this scene is certainly memorable to bond fans, apparently her name might not be, considering her name was misspelled as “Martin Beswick” in the opening title sequence.
Martine Beswick – Now
In 1965, Martine Beswick returned to the Bond series as Paula Caplan in Thunderball. She had been away from the Caribbean for so long that she actually needed to sunbathe every day for two weeks leading up to filming in order to look like a local. In the 1966’s One Million Years B.C. Beswick engaged in yet another on-screen catfight. She has been in movies and television sparingly through the 1990s, most recently appearing in the 2009 film, Avatar.
Catherine Schell – Nancy
Hungarian-born actress Catherine Schell started her acting career in a 1964 German film called Lana: Queen of the Amazon. Schell then spent some time on a German television show and in the late 1960s, appeared in two British films, Amsterdam Affair, and Moon Zero Two. She was then cast as Nancy in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She portrayed a Hungarian henchwoman and patient at Ernst Stavro Bloveld’s allergy-research institute in the Swiss Alps trying to overcome a potato allergy.
Catherine Schell – Now
Following her time as Nancy, Catherine Schell would go on to spend most of the remainder of her career on British television, appearing in over 47 series through the course of nearly 30 years. Her most memorable performances came in the mid-1970s as Lady Claudine Lytton in the film The Return of the Pink Panther, and Maya, an alien in the British sci-fi series, Space: 1999. Schell retired in the mid-1990s and opened a small guesthouse in Bonneval, Haute-Loire, France.
Halle Berry – Jinx Johnson
Before she was a famous actress, Halle Berry competed in beauty contests, finishing runner-up in the 1986 Miss USA contest and winning the 1986 Miss USA World title. Her first feature role came in 1991 in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever. This film opened many doors for the actress, leading to roles in 1994’s The Flintstones. 1998’s Bulworth, as well as her famous role in the X-Men franchise. In 2002, Berry became the Bond girl Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day.
Halle Berry – Now
In the years following Die Another Die, Halle Berry has been extremely successful but has never taken herself too seriously. In 2005, Berry became the second actor ever to accept a Razzie Award in person, “winning” the title of Worst Actress for her role in Catwoman. She even gave a speech and embraced the humor in her “victory.” Through the early 2000s and until today, Berry has remained active in film and television, acting and producing in high-budget movies and television series.
Famke Jannson- Xenia Onatopp
Famke Janssen started her career as a fashion model, working for Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Chanel, and Victoria’s Secret. Janssen gave up modeling in the early 1990’s to focus on building an acting career. One of her first roles was a part in an episode of 1992’s Star Trek: The Next Generation. Janssen’s first film role came that same year in the crime drama Fathers & Sons. In 1995, Janssen joined the sisterhood of Bond girls as Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye.
Famke Jannsen- Now
While Janssen certainly proved herself worth of Bond girl status with her role as Xenia Onatopp, she wouldn’t take on the role that defined her career until 2000, when she joined the X-Men franchise as Jean Grey AKA Phoenix. All in all, Janssen has taken part in five different X-Men films including 2013’s Wolverine. She even took home a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. Most recently, Janssen has appeared in The Blacklist, and the Taken trilogy.
Talisa Soto- Lupe Lamora
Brooklyn native Talisa Soto started her career as a model at the young age of 15 years old. In order to do so, the young Soto traveled to Paris. She’s been featured in Vogue, Elle, Mademouselle, Glamour, and Self magazines. She was also featured in ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Cartierm Clarins, Revlon, Salvatore Ferragamo, Saks Fifth Avenue and Versace. In 1988, upon returning to the United States, Soto began her acting career and was cast as Lupe Lamora in License to Kill.
Talisa Soto- Now
Since her time as a Bond girl, Soto has taken part in over twenty films including Mortal Kombat, Island of the Dead, Pinero, and Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. She’s appeared in People magazine, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and Maxim and was even featured Marc Anthony’s music video for “I Need to Know.” Soto married Benjamin Bratt in 2002 and the couple now have two children together. Her most recent role was as Tisha in the 2013 science fiction film Elysium.