A female actor taking a lead role in a James Bond movie, or the character they play. Bond movies are known for the appearance of extremely attractive women in major roles, (although secondary to Bond). Bond Girls are not recurring characters, and generally appear in only one movie. (Characters such as M and Miss Moneypenny are not usually thought of as Bond Girls). Bond Girl characters often have names that are double entendres, such as 'Pussy Galore'.
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
Bond girl roles are high profile parts, and the announcement of the actresses playing them is usually surrounded with a large amount of publicity. For actresses not already established, the parts can be a major boost to a career.
Most Bond Girl characters fall into one of the categories of:
- victim rescued by Bond early in the movie
- fellow agent assigned to the same task
- villain or member of enemy organisation bent on Bond's destruction
Although it is sometimes thought that the only requirements for an actress in a Bond girl role are to look good in a variety of skimpy costumes, many fine actresses have played the roles, and have had distinguished careers before and afterwards. As of 2003 Halle Berry is the only Oscar winner to play a Bond girl.
The list of Bond girls so far:
- Dr. No (1962) Ursula Andress
- From Russia With Love (1963) Daniela Bianchi
- Goldfinger (1964) Shirley Eaton, Honor Blackman
- Thunderball (1965) Claudine Auger
- You Only Live Twice (1967) Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama
- Casino Royale (1967) Ursula Andress, Jacqueline Bisset, Deborah Kerr, Daliah Lavi, and Bond's girl Joanna Pettet)
- Diamonds are Forever (1971) Jill St. John
- Never Say Never Again (1983) Kim Basinger)
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Diana Rigg
- Live and Let Die (1973) Jane Seymour
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Britt Ekland and Maud Adams
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Barbara Bach
- Moonraker (1979) Lois Chiles)
- For Your Eyes Only (1981) Carole Bouquet
- Octopussy (1983) Maud Adams
- A View to a Kill (1985) Tanya Roberts and Grace Jones
- The Living Daylights (1987) Maryam D'Abo
- Licence to Kill (1989) Talisa Soto and Carey Lowell
- GoldenEye (1995) Izabella Scorupco and Famke Janssen
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeoh
- The World Is Not Enough (1999) Sophie Marceau and Denise Richards
- Die Another Day (2002) Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike