Honor Blackman, best known for playing Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, has died aged 94.
Blackman also rose to fame in the 1960s after her role as Cathy Gale in The Avengers, resulting in an impressive career that spanned eight decades.
The actor died due to natural causes that were unrelated to the coronavirus, according to the Guardian.
Her family explained in a statement to the Guardian: “It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94. She died peacefully of natural causes at her home in Lewes, Sussex, surrounded by her family.”
“She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two children Barnaby and Lottie, and grandchildren Daisy, Oscar, Olive and Toby.”
“As well as being a much-adored mother and grandmother, Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent; with an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic, she achieved an unparalleled iconic status in the world of film and entertainment and with absolute commitment to her craft and total professionalism in all her endeavours she contributed to some of the great films and theatre productions of our times.”
The late Terry O'Neill, who captured multiple Bond on-set moments during his career, worked with Blackman on Goldfinger which was shot in Jamaica. In his 2016 book, Every Picture Tells a Story, he recounted his experience of the former Bond girl, describing her as "a stunningly terrific and smart woman".
“I started shooting James Bond movies in 1963, when the paper I was working for sent me down to the set of From Russia with Love, the follow-up to the 1962 smash, Dr. No. It was clear that the Bond film franchise would come to epitomise British filmmaking in the ’60s and go on to launch several careers, notably Sean Connery, who was in every sense of the word, cool. And yes, to be sure these are James Bond films—but the roles of the leading actresses would become sought-after. These women, often strong, independent characters, would be remembered for their tongue-in-cheek names. Perhaps the most notable and notorious of them all being Pussy Galore.
Terry O’Neill/Iconic Images Honor Blackman and Sean Connery
"In Goldfinger, Honor Blackman was cast as Bond’s female nemesis. Blackman became the Bond girl that broke all the rules. Concerned over censorship, the producers considered changing her character’s name to Kitty Galore. But art triumphed over censors and the filmmakers stuck to their guns.
Terry O’Neill/Iconic Images Honor Blackman
"It was just too good an opportunity. I’m not sure how we came up with the idea. I was with Honor, a stunningly terrific and smart woman, doing some press shots on the beach. I took photos of her on the rocks, in a fur coat, on the balcony and also did a few rolls in colour. And as I was standing there, looking down at her with all that blank sand, the idea just hit.
So we wrote her character’s first name on the sand— Pussy."
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