Honor Blackman, the English actor best known for portraying Pussy Galore in the 1964 James Bond classic Goldfinger, has died. She was 94 years old.
Her family confirmed the death in a statement to the Guardian, saying Blackman died in her Sussex, England home of natural causes.
“It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94,” the statement reads. “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.
The statement continues: “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.”
Blackman was a prolific stage, TV, and film performer, getting her start in the late 1940s thanks to bit parts in movies. She became a TV star in the early 1960s after landing the lead role of Cathy Gale in the spy series The Avengers. It was that very role that led her to Goldfinger, the third James Bond movie in which she played tough, judo-fighting pilot Pussy Galore opposite Sean Connery. “Tongue in cheek, isn’t it?” Blackman once said good-humoredly of the character’s name. “If you’re so po-faced that you had to take that seriously, well, bad luck.”
Pussy Galore went on to become one of the most iconic Bond girls in the 007 franchise’s history, thanks to Blackman’s performance—something the actor took great pride in. However, she never cared for being called a “Bond girl,” often bristling at the descriptor.
“I hate being referred to as a ‘Bond girl,’ simply because Pussy Galore was a great character,” she said in a 2004 interview. “It wouldn’t have mattered what she was in.”
Blackman worked tirelessly over the next few decades, notching memorable roles in shows like Coronation Street and films like Bridget Jones’s Diary. She worked all the way up through 2015, marking her last screen performance in an episode of the TV series You, Me & Them. “As long as my health and my memory stand by me, as long as I’m offered work I’ll take it,” she said in 2009. “I’ve worked since I was 16—the idea of stopping is appalling.”
Blackman married and divorced twice in her life, first to Bill Sankey, then to British actor Maurice Kaufmann, with whom she adopted two children, Lottie and Barnaby.
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