Ursula Andress

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Ursula Andress
Ursula Andress 2006-12-16-382c1.jpg
Ursula Andress in 2006 during an event in Ostermundigen, Switzerland.
Born (1936-03-19) 19 March 1936 (age 77)
Ostermundigen, Switzerland
Occupation Actress
Years active 1954–2005
Spouse(s) John Derek (m. 1957–1966)
Partner(s)
  • Harry Hamlin 1 son
    (1978–1982)
  • Lorenzo Rispoli
    (1983–present)

Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss-American actress and sex symbol of the 1960s.[1] She is known for her role as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962), for which she won a Golden Globe. She later starred as Vesper Lynd in the Bond-parody Casino Royale (1967).

Contents

Early life [edit]

Andress was born in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, the daughter of Anna, who was Swiss, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat who was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons. He disappeared during World War II.[2]

Career [edit]

Andress became famous as Honey Ryder, a shell diver and James Bond's object of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond movie.[3] In a well-known scene, she rises out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini. The scene made Andress the "quintessential" Bond girl,[4] and is now considered iconic.[5] "My entrance in the film wearing the bikini on that beautiful beach made me world famous as 'the Bond girl'", she said, and the bikini from this "classic moment in cinema and Bond history" sold at auction in 2001 for £41,125 ($59,755) including commissions and tax.[6][7] In 2003, in a UK Survey by Channel 4, her entrance in Dr. No was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments".[8]

Andress won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in 1964 for her performance in Dr. No.[9] Due to her heavy Swiss-German accent, her character's voice was provided by Nikki van der Zyl, while the calypso was sung by Diana Coupland.[10] In 1965, she posed nude for Playboy.[11] When asked why she had agreed to do the Playboy shoot she replied coolly, "Because I'm beautiful."[12]

Andress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1963 musical film, Fun in Acapulco, with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 4 for Texas (1963), opposite Marcello Mastroianni in The 10th Victim (1965), alongside John Richardson in She (1965), and as the countess in The Blue Max (1966). She also appeared in the Bond satire Casino Royale (1967) as Vesper Lynd, an occasional spy who persuades Evelyn Tremble, as played by Peter Sellers, to carry out a mission. Her heavy accent was dubbed over in Dr. No, but she used her own voice in Casino Royale.

In 1967, Andress turned down the role of Matilda in the British-thriller Berserk!, a role that eventually went to English actress, Diana Dors. In 1981's Clash of the Titans she co-starred with Laurence Olivier. In 1995, Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history."

After her son's birth, Andress scaled back her career, which focused mostly on European TV and films.

Personal life [edit]

Ursula Andress in front of a crowd of people; a boom microphone is above her head
Andress surrounded by TV crews on board the Royal Yacht Britannia celebrating her 70th birthday in 2006

In 1957, Andress married actor/director John Derek; they divorced in 1966. One of her longest affairs was with Jean-Paul Belmondo while he was still married to his first wife.[13] In 1980, she had a son, Dimitri, with American actor Harry Hamlin, her co-star in the film Clash of the Titans.[14]

On 18 May 2006, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Swiss Consulate General in Scotland, Ursula Andress celebrated her 70th birthday on board the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh in the presence of an international crowd of celebrities.

Filmography [edit]

Film Year Role Notes
Un americano a Roma 1954 Astrid
La catena dell'odio 1955 Unknown
Le avventure di Giacomo Casanova 1955
Dr. No 1962 Honey Ryder
Fun in Acapulco 1963 Marguerita Dauphin
4 for Texas 1963 Maxine Richter
Once Before I Die 1965 Alex
Nightmare in the Sun 1965 Wife
She 1965 Ayesha
What's New Pussycat? 1965 Rita
Les Tribulations d'un chinois en Chine 1965 Alexandrine Pinardel
The 10th Victim 1965 Caroline Meredith
Blue Max, TheThe Blue Max 1966 Countess Kaeti von Klugermann
Casino Royale 1967 Vesper Lynd/007
Le dolci signore 1968 Norma
Southern Star, TheThe Southern Star 1969 Erica Kramer
Perfect Friday 1970 Britt
Red Sun 1971 Cristina
Five Against Capricorn 1972
L'ultima chance 1973 Michelle Nolton
Colpo in canna 1974 Nora Green
L'infermiera 1975 Anna
Africa Express 1975 Madeleine Cooper
Le avventure e gli amori di Scaramouche 1975 Josephine De Beauharnais
Safari Express 1976 Miriam
Spogliamoci così senza pudor 1976 English title: Sex With a Smile II
La montagna del dio cannibale 1978 Susan Stevenson English title: The Mountain of the Cannibal God
Doppio delitto 1978 Principessa Dell'Orso English title: Double Murder
Fifth Musketeer, TheThe Fifth Musketeer 1979 Louise de la Vallière
Letti selvaggi 1979 The Stroller and the Widow English title: Tigers in Lipstick
Clash of the Titans 1981 Aphrodite
Red Bells 1982 Mabel Dodge
Manimal 1983 Karen TV series
Liberté, égalité, choucroute 1985 Marie-Antoinette
Peter the Great 1986 Athalie TV series
Falcon Crest 1987–88 Madame Malec TV series
Klassäzämekunft 1988
Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders 1989 Betty Starr TV movie
Il Professore – Diva 1989 Susy Kaminski TV
Fantaghirò 3 1993 Xellesia TV series
Fantaghirò 4 1994 Xellesia TV series
Alles gelogen 1996
Cremaster 5 1997 Queen of Chain
Vogelpredigt, Die 2005

References [edit]

  1. ^ Tom Lisanti, Louis Paul (2002). Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962–1973. McFarland. p.38. ISBN 0-7864-1194-5.
  2. ^ Mark Anstead (7 December 2002). Bond girl who made a killing. The Guardian. Accessed 2008-06-30.
  3. ^ Dr No bikini for sale (12 January 2001). BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  4. ^ Rebecca Thomas (19 November 1999). One girl is not enough. BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  5. ^ Kathryn Westcott (5 July 2006). The bikini: Not a brief affair. BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  6. ^ Bond bikini sells for £35,000 (14 February 2001). BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  7. ^ Christie's Auction Result (14 February 2001). Christie's Auction. Accessed 2012-06-16.
  8. ^ Andress scene voted 'most sexy' (30 November 2003). BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  9. ^ Ursula Andress. GoldenGlobes.org. Accessed 2008-02-18.
  10. ^ Actress Diana Coupland dies at 74 (10 November 2006). BBC News. Accessed 2008-02-16.
  11. ^ Ursula Andress Playboy.co.uk.
  12. ^ Julie Burchill (10 October 2011). Selling sex... why be coy about it?. The Independent. Accessed 2011-10-10.
  13. ^ Elaine Sciolino (21 January 2009). French star as he is, stroke and all. NY Times. Accessed 2012-04-04.
  14. ^ Logan Bentley (5 May 1980). Urged by Her 28-Year-Old Lover, Harry Hamlin, Ursula Andress Faces Motherhood at 44. People. Accessed 2010-12-14.

External links [edit]

Preceded by
None
Bond girl
1962
Succeeded by
Daniela Bianchi