This is Part 2 in a Scholars’ Spotlight series of articles that are biographies of the ladies, or “Bond Girls” that appeared throughout the entire James Bond franchise. Please Click Here to enjoy Part 1.
In this second entry we will focus on three of the actresses that portrayed Bond Girls that appeared in the Roger Moore era – Jane Seymour (Live and Let Die), Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me), and Madeline Smith (Live and Let Die).
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour was born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in Uxbridge, England on February 15, 1951, to a Polish father and a Dutch mother. She studied acting at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire, England.
In the late 1960’s, Frankenberg changed her name to Jane Seymour. This was a name taken after the third wife of Henry VIII. She did this because she thought that it would be more marketable than using her real name.
Seymour’s first on-screen appearance came in an uncredited role as a chorus girl in 1969’s Oh! What A Lovely War. The following year she was cast as Lilian Stein in The Only Way (1970). She appeared in a handful of other movies over the next few years including Young Winston (1972) and The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973).
During the production of Richard Attenborough’s Oh! What A Lovely War she began a romance with Michael, his son. They were married the following year. In 1973 Seymour got her big break when she appeared as the lead “Bond Girl” in the first Roger Moore Bond Movie Live and Let Die (1973). In it she portrayed “Solitaire,” the virgin fortune teller.
“WHEN I FILMED ‘LIVE AND LET DIE’ WITH JANE SEYMOUR, I KEPT MY SOCKS ON IN BED, AS IT WAS SUCH A COLD SET.”
– ROGER MOORE
Seymour followed up this performance by co-starring in Ray Harryhausen’s classic Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger in 1975. However, this was delayed for two years due to the extensive special effects work. In 1977, she divorced Attenborough and married his best friend Geoffrey Planner. They were divorced a year later.
Around the time of her second divorce, Seymour was cast as Serina in the original Battlestar Gallactica. That year she also appeared in Oh Heavenly Dog (1978) with Chevy Chase.
In 1980, the actress appeared in the time travel classic Somewhere in Time (1980) with Christopher Reeve. The two became good friends and remained so until his death. Also that year, she appeared in over 1,100 performances as Constanze Mozart in the Broadway production of Amadeus, with Tim Curry and Ian McKellan.
In 1981, Seymour got married for a third time to David Flynn. It was around this time she began to do more TV work. Seymour won a Golden Globe for her role in East of Eden (1981). She also starred in the miniseries War and Remembrance (1988). The actress went on to win an Emmy for her role in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988).
In 1989, Seymour starred in a miniseries about the French Revolution that was shot simultaneously in both English and French entitled La révolution française. Her role was that of Marie Antoinette. In 1992, she divorced her third husband because he lost all of her money in a get rich quick, real estate scheme.
The following year Seymour started an eight-year run on the hit series Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. During the first season, she met and married James Keach, brother of Stacey Keach. Seymour won a second Golden Globe during the show’s run.
In 2015, she divorced Keach. After Dr. Quinn ended, she appeared in smaller roles in movies such as Wedding Crashers (2005), as well as guest spots on shows, including Castle and How I Met Your Mother. In addition to acting, Seymour also spends time working with the nonprofit Childhelp, which helps abused children.
Caroline Munro
Caroline Munro was born in Berkshire, England on January 16th, 1949. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a housewife. She grew up in Rottingdean, near Brighton, where she attended a Catholic Convent School. Munro had difficulty in school due to the fact that she suffered from dyslexia. The only subject that she performed decently in was art.
In 1966, her mundane life changed forever when a male student who studied photography took some pictures of her. On a whim, he sent one of the photos into a newspaper contest in London to find “the face of the year.” The contest was judged by renowned fashion photographer David Bailey. Munroe’s picture won the contest.
Munro moved to London at age 17 and appeared in a variety of fashion magazines, including Vogue. The following year she was cast in a minor role in the movie Casino Royale (1967). In 1969, she was cast in Where’s Jack, about an 18th-century criminal named Jack Sheppard, as well as A Talent For Loving starring Richard Widmark.
In 1971, Munroe began to appear in horror movies. Her first role in this genre was as Victoria Regina Phibes in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) opposite Vincent Price. A year later they reteamed for the sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972).
Around this time, she was signed to a one-year contract by Hammer Films. For Hammer, she appeared in Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974). She turned down roles in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), Vampirella (unproduced), and Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974). This was because the roles required nudity, which went against her Christian beliefs.
In 1973, Munro was cast in The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad, which featured great stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. Ms. Munro would later reflect:
“I GOT THE PART – I HAD BEEN SIGNED BY HAMMER, FOR ONE YEAR, FOR A CONTRACT, OUT OF WHICH I DID TWO FILMS, ONE BEING DRACULA A.D. 1972, AND THE SECOND ONE BEING CAPTAIN KRONOS – VAMPIRE HUNTER, WHICH, KIND OF, WOULD COME FULL-CIRCLE, TO SINBAD. IT WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY BRIAN CLEMENS, WHO WROTE THE SCREENPLAY FOR THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, SO, I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE CHOSEN FOR CAPTAIN KRONOS, AND THEY WERE SEARCHING FOR SOMEBODY TO DO SINBAD, AND THEY WANTED A BIG NAME, SOMEBODY AMERICAN, OR WELL-KNOWN, BUT BRIAN SAID “NO”. HE KEPT LOBBYING CHARLES SCHNEER (PRODUCER) AND RAY HARRYHAUSEN — SAYING: ‘I THINK YOU SHOULD COME AND LOOK AT THE RUSHES, AND SEE WHAT YOU THINK, BECAUSE I THINK SHE’S RIGHT’. SO, THEY SAID “NO”, BUT, EVENTUALLY, BRIAN PERSUADED THEM TO DO THAT, AND THEY SAW THE RUSHES, AND THAT WAS HOW I GOT THE PART. SO, IT WAS LOVELY, LIKE WORK-OUT-OF-WORK. I WAS VERY LUCKY TO HAVE DONE THAT.”
In 1977, Munroe played a villainous henchman in the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. In 1978, she starred opposite David Hasselhoff in a Star Wars knockoff called Starcrash.
Munro appeared in several other projects throughout the early 1980’s, however, there was only one that was truly memorable; the girl in the glasses in the Adam Ant video for “Goody Two Shoes.”
Munro has appeared sporadically in movies over the past few decades. Her most recent role was in 2017’s 315 Wicked Way. Munro also attends various conventions in both the UK and the US.
Madeline Smith
Madeline Smith was born in Sussex, England on August 2, 1949, to an English father and a Swiss mother. In late 1967, she moved to London and started to work at the trendy Biba boutique in Kensington. While working there, she was encouraged by the owner of the company, Barbara Hulanicki to become a model. Smith recalled:
“AT 18 YOU THINK YOU OWN THE WORLD, SO I THEN KNOCKED ON THE DOOR OF THE LUCIE CLAYTON MODELING AGENCY AND THEY TOOK ME ON FOR 18 MONTHS.”
In 1969, she began to pursue a career as an actress and was cast in the Hammer movie Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970) starring Christopher Lee. She followed that up with The Devil’s Widow (1970) with Ava Gardner, as well as the comedies Up Pompeii (1971) and Up The Front (1972). Smith also had an iconic turn as Emma Morton in The Vampire Lovers (1970).
She met Roger Moore whilst working on the TV series The Persuaders (1970), which starred Moore and Tony Curtis. When he was cast as 007 he recommended her for the part of Miss Caruso, an Italian agent. Smith later recalled:
“ROGER WAS AN ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL GENTLEMAN — THERE WAS NO EGO AT PLAY THERE, HE WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN EVERY ASPECT OF A FILM SET, ALWAYS TALKING TO THE LIGHTING GUYS, THE SOUND TECHNICIANS. BUT, IN FACT, HE WAS ACTUALLY SHY AND QUITE INSECURE ABOUT HIS ACTING.”
The scene where Bond unzips Smith’s dress with his magnetic Rolex was the first one filmed for Live And Let Die (1973). Years later the actress recalled:
“THAT WAS THE FIRST SCENE THAT WAS SHOT IN THE FILM, AND HOW COULD I FORGET THAT BLUE DRESS. WE SPENT THREE DAYS FILMING THAT SCENE, AND AFTER THE TWENTIETH TAKE I CAN ASSURE YOU IT WASN’T THAT ROMANTIC. IT DIDN’T HELP THAT I HATED THE DRESS. OF COURSE, WHAT NOBODY SAW WAS THE SPECIAL EFFECTS MAN LYING UNDERNEATH BETWEEN MY LEGS, AND PULLING ON A THREAD ATTACHED TO THE ZIP.”
Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Smith would appear in various projects, including the movies Frankenstein And The Monster from Hell (1974) and Theatre Of Blood (1973), as well as the TV series Steptoe And Son. Smith later recalled:
“I’M SO BLESSED TO HAVE APPEARED IN THESE FILMS – AND WHEN I MEET PEOPLE WHO HOLD THEM IN SUCH ESTEEM IT’S AN AMAZING FEELING. THEY’RE HELD UP AS CLASSICS NOW AND THAT’S INCREDIBLY SATISFYING.”
Smith married actor David Buck and had a daughter with him in 1984. After this, she retired from acting to raise her child. Her husband died of cancer five years later. She returned to acting in 2011 and appeared in the British shows Bargain Hunt and Celebrity Mastermind.
