After just over a year since Goldfinger (1964) Bond girl Tania Mallet died, Honor Blackman, the actress perhaps most commonly associated with the same film, has died at the age of 94, according to The Guardian.
While Honor Blackman was a star of many films and television shows, it is undeniable that she is most known for her role as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger alongside Sean Connery’s James Bond. While a name like Pussy Galore could never be in a Bond film today, let alone any film in today’s society, it certainly stirred up controversy even back when the film was released in the 1960s, and probably rightly so.
Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore had a flying circus of female pilots in the film, herself being the personal pilot and dare we say, top henchwoman to the title villain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe). She has an interesting plot development, as she does not really succumb to Bond’s charms. They do share a somewhat romantic moment together in a Kentucky barn full of hay, but up through to almost the very end, Galore is working for the bad guys and catches Bond snooping around once or twice. However, in a last ditch effort, Pussy Galore’s flying circus pilots, who are supposed to be dropping fatal nerve gas bombs on intervening troops trying to stop Goldfinger’s raid on Fort Knox, actually drop nothing fatal of the kind, implied that Galore did turn to Bond’s aid. When Goldfinger meets his demise Bond saves the day and in so doing Pussy’s life, and the two of them of course end up in a kissing embrace beneath a parachute at the close of the picture. So we guess, ultimately, she became a heroine in the end.
One of the few surviving members of the Goldfinger cast now is the actress Shirley Eaton, the one who unforgettably meets her demise being smothered in gold paint, creating perhaps the most iconic image in Bond history. And while she may have the most iconic image, Pussy Galore might just have the most iconic name in Bond film history, at least as far as Bond women are concerned. She without a doubt has the most memorable introduction to a Bond female character, with her name reveal and she herself in a gold blouse beneath a dark suit, as Bond wakes from being put to sleep by his enemy’s guards on Goldfinger’s private Lockheed jet, smugly threatening him with her tranquilizer gun.
Along with playing the baddie turned goodie in Goldfinger, Honor Blackman was also the first female star of the British television spy series The Avengers (1961-69), as Cathy Gale, alongside Patrick Macnee as John Steed. Blackman was replaced later in the show by future Bond girl and perhaps most special Bond girl (to the character) Diana Rigg, who was James Bond’s (a one off performance by George Lazenby) “true” lover in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). Rigg was Steed’s new partner, Emma Peel. Honor Blackman also starred in films such as The Secret of My Success (1965), A Night to Remember (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001). Besides The Avengers, Blackman also made television appearances in The Saint (1962-69) with future James Bond Roger Moore (Live and Let Die (1973)), Columbo (1971-2003), Doctor Who (1963-89), and The Royal (2003-11).
Another Bond girl has gone into the great beyond after a long life, but as is usually the case, her mark on the legacy to the 007 franchise will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.
Pussy Galore: “My name is Pussy Galore.”
James Bond: “I must be dreaming.”
