A Bond Girl is a character who portrays a significant supporting role or a love interest in a James Bond film, novel or video game. They typically have unusual names, and are physically attractive. The concept of Bond girls has evolved much over the years, and has proven one of the more controversial tropes of the Bond series - with some arguing that they should be referred to as "Bond Women" rather than girls. Bond girls have also represented the character's womanising, although this too has been toned down in recent years.
Bond girls fall into a number of different categories - sometimes they are women whom Bond rescues, or they are fellow agents and allies. Bond girls can also be opponents, rivals or members of enemy organisations. Bond girls vary greatly in terms of personality, occupation and appearance. Bond girls have included characters who were professional cello players, astronauts, air pilots, psychiatrists, nuclear scientists, tarot readers, marine archaeologists and corporate bosses, as well as the more predictable roles of spies and villains' girlfriends. A Bond girl can be feisty and independent, or docile and helpless. Some are extremely good at physical combat, while others evade it.
Some female characters such as Judi Dench's M, Rosa Klebb, and Irma Bunt are not classified as Bond girls, and are typically more mature and formidable women. Miss Moneypenny, on the other hand, is not usually seen as a Bond girl, but occupies an intermediate point between these two poles, sometimes flirting with him, and sometimes criticising him.
The role of a Bond girl is typically a high-profile part that can give a major boost to the career of unestablished actresses, although there have been a number of Bond girls that were well-established prior to gaining their role. For instance, Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman were both Bond girls after becoming major stars for their roles on the television series, The Avengers. Additionally, Halle Berry won an Academy Award in 2002, an award presented to her while in the midst of filming Die Another Day. Despite claims of a Bond girl curse, many of them have had successful careers later, and the attitude of past Bond girls to their former roles is as varied as the women who played them.
Names[]
Bond girls often have very unusual sounding names. In the early days of Bond, it was typical for many Bond girls to have names which were smutty double entendres, examples of these would include Honey Ryder, Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Chew Mee, Agent XXX, Holly Goodhead, Onatopp and so on. Some of these originate with Fleming, but some do not. This particular aspect has been parodied many times, especially in Austin Powers.
However, not all Bond girl names have sexual connotations, by any means. For example, Vesper Lynd's name is a pun on "West Berlin", with Berlin being a city known for its divided loyalties in the Cold War. Some are more cryptic - Jenny Flex as a pun on "genuflects"; May Day as a well known distress signal and so on. Tatiana Romanova's name has no such obvious puns or origins, although in the novel, Bond remarks on a possible link with the Romanovs, Russia's royal house (In reality, Romanov is actually a very common Russian surname).
Others are cultural references: Strawberry Fields (a Beatles song); Madeleine Swann (a reference to the novels of Marcel Proust); Tracy Bond is a partial reference to St. Theresa and so on.
Some of Ian Fleming's names (as with those of James Bond himself, Felix Leiter, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Auric Goldfinger and others) are also taken from people who knew, or knew of, in real life.
History[]
Ursula Andress is often considered the first Bond girl, playing Honey Ryder in the film Dr. No (1962). She was, however, preceded by Eunice Gayson who played the character Sylvia Trench. Trench is the only Bond girl to appear as the same character in more than one film, appearing again in From Russia with Love (1963). Initially, Trench was planned to be a regular girlfriend of Bond's in the series, but was subsequently dropped after the encore appearance.
It should be noted however that Valerie Mathis was the first ever Bond girl to appear on screen in the 1954 television version of Casino Royale. She was played by Linda Christian.
Even very early on, Bond girls were not necessarily helpless victims by any means, for example in Goldfinger, Pussy Galore is a highly successful and respected gang leader, who has little interest in men (in the book it is openly stated that she is a lesbian, whereas in the film this is only hinted at.) The earliest non-white Bond girl is Miss Taro (Zena Marshall), who is supposed to be Eurasian, but is played by a white actress, with You Only Live Twice featuring an ensemble of East Asian actresses. The first black Bond girl is Rosie Carver in Live and Let Die. In subsequent films, Bond girls come from many different backgrounds and regions, with the Soviet bloc being a frequent origin.
To date, only three Bond girls have captured the heart of James Bond. The first was Tracy di Vicenzo played by Diana Rigg, who marries Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). At film's end, Tracy is gunned down by 007's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. It was initially planned that her death would actually occur in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), but this idea was dropped during filming of On Her Majesty's Secret Service when current-Bond George Lazenby announced he would step down from the role. The next girl was Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale (2006) who was secretly working for Bond's enemies and shared the same fate. Lastly, in the film Spectre, Bond rides off into the sunrise with Dr Madeleine Swann who returns in No Time to Die. In that film, she and Bond are happy and in love until he starts questioning her innocence in the bombing of Vesper's grave leading to their breakup. Five years later they reunite and it's revealed she had his child, Mathilde Swann, and the film ends with Bond sacrificing himself for them.
Within the Eon series, Maud Adams is the only actress to portray a main character as two different Bond girls in two different films, starting as Andrea Anders in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974 and again as the title character in Octopussy (1983). She also appears as an extra in a third Bond film, A View to a Kill in 1985. Two other girls, Martine Beswick (Thunderball) and Nadja Regin (Goldfinger) also appear in a second adventure, appearing first in From Russia with Love. Tsai Chin appeared in two Bond films as well You Only Live Twice (1967) as a Ling and later as Madam Wu in Casino Royale (2006).
(Ursula Andress who appears in Dr. No, also plays Vesper Lynd in the non-Eon spoof Casino Royale (1967 film))
In 1995 Famke Janssen, who portrayed Xenia Onatopp, was considered the only major female character (and villain) whom Bond does not bed. However in 2008, lead Bond Girl Camille Montes also shows a restraint to Bond's usually forward charms.
Becoming more frequent, traditional Bond girls that have romantic trysts with Bond, are later discovered to be villainesses starting with Sophie Marceau's Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Miranda Frost portrayed by Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day (2002).
In late 2014, it was announced that Monica Bellucci will play Lucia Sciarra in Spectre (2015). At age 50, Bellucci made record as the oldest Bond girl in the film series. Previously, Honor Blackman held record, playing Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, aged 39 in 1964. Both actresses play the unlikely role, of being a Bond girl older than James Bond. (Casino Royale (1967) also had the 45 year old Agent Mimi)
Films[]
Eon series James Bond girls[]
In addition to those actresses mentioned above, the Bond films traditionally have groups of women in the background whose general purpose is nothing more than eye candy: they include the sunbathing Miami beauties and Pussy Galore's Flying Circus in Goldfinger, the Thai girls at the kung fu school in The Man With the Golden Gun, Tiger Tananka's bathing beauties in You Only Live Twice, and Sheikh Hossein's harem in The Spy Who Loved Me. However, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights these women were also referred to in the media as full fledge Bond girls to provide added publicity for the film through eye-catching magazine and newspaper appearances.
In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, they include Ernst Stavro Blofeld's Angels of Death. In Moonraker (1979) this included members of Hugo Drax's "master race" and a group of women encountered by Bond in the jungles of Brazil, in For Your Eyes Only (1981) many women were seen frolicking around a villain's pool, while in Octopussy (1983) they served mainly as the title character's servants and guards. In A View to a Kill (1985) they adorned Max Zorin's outdoor reception and in The Living Daylights (1987) they served as decorations at the villain's swimming pool and later Bond overpasses a harem in Tangiers. Although the Bond films haven't stopped making use of feminine "eye candy" completely, such large "Bond girl groups" have not featured again since The Living Daylights.
Non-Eon films[]
There are a number of notable Bond girls in the non-Eon productions. In fact, as stated above, the very first Bond girl was Valerie Mathis in the 1954 Casino Royale, before Dr. No was even made. Ursula Andress became a Bond girl for a second time in the 1967 Casino Royale and Caroline Munro can also be spotted in a bit part in it before she became an "official" Bond girl. The '67 Casino Royale also features Sir James Bond's daughter Mata Bond as a Bond girl.
Whereas Casino Royale has a massive ensemble of Bond girls, there are only two main ones in Never Say Never Again.
Film | Bond girls | Actresses |
---|---|---|
Casino Royale (1954 TV) | Valerie Mathis | Linda Christian |
Casino Royale (1967 film) | Vesper Lynd Mata Bond |
Ursula Andress Joanna Petett |
Omnibus: The British Hero | Various Various |
Gabrielle Drake |
Never Say Never Again | Fatima Blush |
Barbara Carrera Kim Basinger |
Group Galleries[]
Novels[]
Ian Fleming[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
1953 | Casino Royale | Vesper Lynd |
1954 | Live and Let Die | Solitaire |
1955 | Moonraker | Gala Brand |
1956 | Diamonds Are Forever | Tiffany Case |
1957 | From Russia with Love | Tatiana Romanova |
1958 | Dr. No | Honeychile Ryder |
1959 | Goldfinger | Jill Masterton Tilly Masterton Pussy Galore |
1960 | "From a View to a Kill" | Mary Ann Russell |
1960 | "For Your Eyes Only" | Judy Havelock |
1960 | "Quantum of Solace" | Rhoda Llewellyn |
1960 | "Risico" | Lisl Baum |
1960 | "The Hildebrand Rarity" | Liz Krest |
1961 | Thunderball | Patricia Fearing Dominetta "Domino" Vitali |
1962 | The Spy Who Loved Me | Vivienne Michel |
1963 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Ruby Windsor Teresa di Vicenzo |
1964 | You Only Live Twice | Kissy Suzuki |
1965 (posthumously) | The Man with the Golden Gun | Tiffy Mary Goodnight |
1966 (posthumously) | "Octopussy" | No Bond girl |
1966 (posthumously) | "The Living Daylights" | "Trigger" |
1966 (posthumously) | "The Property of a Lady" | Maria Freudenstein |
1966 (posthumously) | "007 in New York" | Solange |
Mary Goodnight was a supporting character in several Bond novels before graduating to full Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun. The short stories "Quantum of Solace", "The Living Daylights" and "The Property of a Lady" feature female characters in prominent roles, but none of these women interact with Bond in any sort of romantic fashion.
Kingsley Amis[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
1968 | Colonel Sun | Ariadne Alexandrou |
John Gardner[]
Year released |
Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
1981 | Licence Renewed | Lavender Peacock Mary Jane Mashkin |
1982 | For Special Services | Cedar Leiter Nena Bismaquer |
1983 | Icebreaker | Paula Vacker Rivke Ingber |
1984 | Role of Honour | Persephone Proud Freddie Fortune Cindy Chalmer |
1986 | Nobody Lives For Ever | Sukie Tempesta Nannie Norrich |
1987 | No Deals, Mr. Bond | Ebbie Heritage Heather Dare |
1988 | Scorpius | Harriet Horner |
1989 | Win, Lose or Die | Beatrice Maria da Ricci Clover Pennington Nikki Ratnikov |
1990 | Brokenclaw | Sue Chi-Ho |
1991 | The Man from Barbarossa | Nina Bibikova Stephanie Adore |
1992 | Death is Forever | Easy St. John Praxi Simeon |
1993 | Never Send Flowers | Flicka von Grüsse |
1994 | SeaFire | |
1996 | COLD | Sukie Tempesta Beatrice da Ricci Toni Nicolleti |
Raymond Benson[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
1997 | "Blast From the Past" | Cheryl Haven |
1997 | Zero Minus Ten | Sunni Pei |
1998 | The Facts of Death | Niki Mirakos |
1999 | "Midsummer Night's Doom" | Lisa Dergan* |
1999 | High Time to Kill | Helena Marksbury Gina Hollander Hope Kendall |
1999 | "Live at Five" | Janet Davies Natalia Lustokov |
2000 | Doubleshot | Heidi Taunt |
2001 | Never Dream of Dying | Tylyn Mignonne |
2002 | The Man with the Red Tattoo | Reiko Tamura Mayumi McMahon |
*Playboy Playmate Lisa Dergen is, to date, the only real-life person to be featured as a Bond girl in any literary Bond story.
Sebastian Faulks[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
2008 | Devil May Care | Scarlett Papava |
Jeffrey Deaver[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
2011 | Carte Blanche | Felicity Willing |
William Boyd[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
2013 | Solo | Bryce Fitzjohn |
Anthony Horowitz[]
Year released | Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|---|
2015 | Trigger Mortis | Jeopardy Lane |
2018 | Forever and a Day | Joanne Brochet |
Young Bond Novels[]
Charlie Higson[]
Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|
SilverFin | Wilder Lawless |
Blood Fever | Amy Goodenough |
Double or Die | Kelly Kelly |
Hurricane Gold | Precious Stone |
By Royal Command | Roan Powers |
Steve Cole[]
Novel | Bond girl |
---|---|
Shoot to Kill | Boudicia "Boody" Price |
Heads You Die | Jagua Maritsa |
Strike Lightning | Unknown |
Comic strips[]
Comic strip | Bond girl |
---|---|
River of Death | Kitty Redwing |
The Golden Ghost | Velvet Lee |
Fear Face | Briony Thorne |
Double Jeopardy | Lalla Sadub |
Starfire | - |
Trouble Spot | Gretta |
Isle of Condors | Crystal Kelly |
Video games[]
Game (production company) | Bond girl | Actress (if applicable) |
---|---|---|
Agent Under Fire (Electronic Arts) | Zoe Nightshade | Caron Pascoe |
Nightfire (Electronic Arts) |
Dominique Paradis |
|
Everything or Nothing (Electronic Arts) | Serena St. Germaine Dr. Katya Nadanova Miss Nagai Mya Starling |
Shannon Elizabeth Heidi Klum Misaki Ito Mýa Harrison |
From Russia with Love (Electronic Arts) | Tatiana Romanova Eva Adara Elizabeth Stark |
Daniela Bianchi (likeness) Maria Menounos Natasha Bedingfield |
Quantum of Solace (Activision) | Camille Rivera Vesper Lynd |
Olga Kurylenko Eva Green |
GoldenEye 007 (2010) (Activision) | Natalya Simonova | Kirsty Mitchell |
Blood Stone (Activision) | Nicole Hunter | Joss Stone |
007 Legends (Activision) |
Honor Blackman (likeness)/ Natasha Little (voice actor) |
Trivia[]
- After the release of For Your Eyes Only (1981) a background actress in a pool scene, Tula, was revealed to be a transsexual, although it does not seem that (most of) the film production crew were aware of this. She is not a major character and has no dialogue, but nonetheless this revelation did generate tabloid interest in the following year, with the now defunct British tabloid newspaper the News of the World outing her.
- Vesper Lynd, the Bond girl from Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, is believed to have been based on Christine Granville, a real-life SOE agent.
- In 2002, former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo co-wrote the book Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond. This book later became a DVD exclusive documentary featuring d'Abo and other Bond girls, including Ursula Andress. In some locations, the documentary was released as a gift with the purchase of Die Another Day on DVD. An updated version was included on the original Casino Royale DVD..
- Halle Berry and Kim Basinger are the only Oscar winners to play a Bond girl.
- After the release of Die Another Day, MGM and EON Productions considered creating a spinoff series featuring Halle Berry's Jinx character. Plans for this were cancelled in 2003.
- Early drafts of Die Another Day included an appearance by Wai Lin, but Michelle Yeoh was unavailable.
- Media reports for The World Is Not Enough indicated the producers planned to include cameo appearances by every surviving Bond girl actress, ranging from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, but that did not occur; however, one "eye-candy" Bond girl was played by Eunice Gayson's daughter.
- Ursula Andress and Maud Adams remain, to date, the only actresses to have played more than one major Bond girl, although several other actresses have appeared more than once as "eye-candy" Bond girls.
- It is interesting to note that while Jill is listed as an enemy on the Bond girl timeline, Pussy Galore was more of an antagonist to Bond.
- Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann is the only Bond girl to be the main Bond girl twice in the films, Spectre and No Time to Die.
See also[]
External links[]
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