Well Bond fans, we’ve lost another beauty. Tania Mallet, who portrayed the feisty Tilly Masterson alongside Sean Connery’s 007 in Goldfinger (1964) has passed away at the age of 77 in the UK.
Tilly Masterson is first seen when James Bond intentionally but indiscriminately runs her Ford Mustang convertible off the road, and offers her a lift in his Aston Martin DB5 to figure out just exactly who she is and what she is up to, after he barely dodges her gunshot from earlier driving around the roads of the Swiss Alps. She introduces herself under the guise of Tilly Soames, which James Bond immediately refutes to himself when discovering her briefcase in his car with the initials “TM.”
While her role may not have been as iconic as her sister Jill’s (Shirley Eaton), what with being painted head to toe in gold paint, nor as memorable as head henchwoman Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) for her name alone, the character Tilly Masterson does have the interesting attribute of being not really an ally or opponent to James Bond, or so we think. She seeks revenge on Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) for the death of her sister, and almost kills Bond in the process. She meets her unfortunate demise at the hands of Oddjob (Harold Sakata) and his death frisbee of a hat while attempting to escape. Even so, Tania Mallet starred in arguably one of the best if not THE best and most iconic James Bond film of all time in Goldfinger. That’s quite an honor in and of itself.
Goldfinger was her only film role, and along with an uncredited appearance on an episode of The New Avengers (1976-77), her only two roles in the industry period. She definitely left her mark however, even ever so slightly, on the 007 legacy.
Rest in peace.
Bond: “You know you’re lucky to be alive!”
Tilly: “No thanks to you!”
