Honor Blackman, the star best known for her roles in James Bond film Goldfinger and The Avengers, has been remembered for her “extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess” after her death at the age of 94.
The actress was 38 when she found international fame in the role of Pussy Galore in 1964, starring opposite Sean Connery as the spy with a licence to kill.
The moment she throws him to the ground is one of the most famous in the history of the franchise.
A statement from her family said: “It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94.
“She died peacefully of natural causes at home in Lewes, Sussex, surrounded by her family.
“She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two adopted children Barnaby and Lottie, and her four grandchildren Daisy, Oscar, Olive and Toby.
Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said in a statement on Twitter: “Today we mark the passing of a film icon, Honor Blackman who shall forever be remembered as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.
“She was an extraordinary talent and a beloved member of the Bond family. Our thoughts are with her family at this time.”
“Today we mark the passing of a film icon, Honor Blackman who shall forever be remembered as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. She was an extraordinary talent and a beloved member of the Bond family. Our thoughts are with her family at this time.” Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli pic.twitter.com/pXnidipKLJ
— James Bond (@007) April 6, 2020
Blackman was also well known for playing Cathy Gale in the 1960s spy series The Avengers.
She also played the vengeful goddess Hera in Jason And The Argonauts and Laura West on the TV series The Upper Hand, which ran from 1990 to 1996, with Blackman playing a glamorous grandmother with a taste for toyboys.
More recently she played Penny Husbands-Bosworth in the big-screen adaptation of Bridget Jones’s Diary and looked back over her life and career in her touring show Honor Blackman As Herself, which saw her in conversation with her colleague and friend Richard Digby Day.
Her family said Blackman was “an avid reader of news and politics”, adding that she “particularly loved all forms of insightful unbiased reporting and intellectually enlightened broadcasting”.
