Bond girl

A Bond girl is an actress taking a lead role in a James Bond movie or video game, 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 generally recurring characters. (Characters such as Judi Dench's 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".

The Bond girls

Bond Girl roles are high-profile parts, and the announcement of the actresses playing them is usually surrounded with much publicity. For unestablished actresses, the parts can boost careers.

Most Bond Girl characters fall into one of the following categories:

• a victim rescued by Bond early in the movie
• a fellow agent assigned to the same mission
• a villainess, or member of an enemy organisation, bent on Bond's destruction
• eye candy: a minor character whose function is prettiness (especially during the Roger Moore era) without any dialogue.

Frequently, enemy Bond girls change sides in the course of the adventure; supposedly friendly women also have betrayed Bond. Initially, Bond girls were ineffectual characters, needing rescue and protection by Bond. In later movies, they became equal, possessing special skills Bond needs to complete his mission, and sometimes rescuing Bond. At the end of an adventure, it is usual for surviving Bond girls to sexually express their gratitude and affection for Bond. Uniquely, one Bond girl (Tracy Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service), married Bond at the end of the story, only to be murdered shortly after their wedding. The Sylvia Trench Eunice Gayson character is the only Bond girl appearing in two Bond films, as she was to be Bond's girlfriend in the series, but the character was dropped after her encore appearance in From Russia With Love. To date, Maud Adams is the only actress to have played more than one Bond girl. In another unique situation, the Elektra King character in The World Is Not Enough is initially established as a traditional Bond girl (complete with romantic trysts with Bond), only to be revealed as either the villain's henchwoman or one of the two main villains (there is considerable debate among Bond fans as to which role she fills).

Several recent Bond films flirted with the idea of bringing back past Bond girl actresses, either as new characters or as their original characters. Media reportage of The World is Not Enough production indicated the producers planned to include cameo appearances by every surviving Bond girl actress, ranging from Ursula Andress to Michelle Yeoh, but that never occurred (although one eye-candy category Bond girl was played by Eunice Gayson's daughter). Early scripts for Die Another Day included an appearance by Tomorrow Never Dies Bond girl Wai Lin, but Michelle Yeoh was unavailable, and a new character was created.

In another, unique, case, Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry) from Die Another Day was to have been spun off into her own series of action movies, but those plans were cancelled in 2003.

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 2004 Halle Berry and Kim Basinger are the only Oscar winners to play a Bond girl.

Bond girls are criticized by feminists, and others, who feel they act too much like damsels in distress and less as strong women. Although there are cases in which this is true, such as bumbling agent Mary Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun and geologist Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill, an examination of the Bond film series reveals them to be exceptions to the rule. Beginning with Andress in Dr. No, Bond girl characters – at least the lead characters and villains – are shown to be headstrong, resourceful, and, in the recent films, capable of holding their own.

Films

Official James Bond girls

Unofficial James Bond girls

Novels

Ian Fleming

Kingsley Amis (a.k.a. Robert Markham)

John Gardner

Raymond Benson

Charlie Higson

Video games

Trivia

• After the release of For Your Eyes Only (1981) a background actress in a pool scene, Tula, was revealed to be a transsexual.
• In Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel,Casino Royale, it is believed he based the Vesper Lynd character on real-life SOE agent, Christine Granville.
• In 2002, former Bond girl Maryam d'Abo co-wrote the book Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond. This book later became a DVD exclusive documentary featuring d'Abo and other Bond girls, including Ursula Andress. In some locations, the documentary was released as a gift with the purchase of Die Another Day on DVD.

External links

• Cult Sirens: Bond Girls