1. Honor Blackman: Goldfinger

Following her appearance as Cathy Gale in the highly successful British television series The Avengers, English actress Honor Blackman was cast in the role of the Bond Girl with that infamously naughty name, playing Pussy Galore in the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger. Renowned for an intelligence and wit that complement her beauty, Blackman won over fans with her unforgettably iconic performance.

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Later in life, after an illustrious tenure in film, television, and as a singer, Blackman took to politics at home in the UK. She was a champion of liberal causes and a member of an anti-monarchy group. In 2002, she reportedly refused a CBE, citing that it would be hypocritical of her to accept the award. Blackman passed away at age 94 in April 2020.

2. Denise Richards: The World Is Not Enough

American screen beauty of the ’90s Denise Richards first skyrocketed to fame starring in the 1997 wacky sci-fi flick Starship Troopers. She was cast two years later in The World Is Not Enough, playing nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones alongside Pierce Brosnan in his third film playing 007. The two are tasked with stopping a nuclear disaster off the coast of Istanbul.

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Today, Richards continues to act both in television and movies, despite more recently making headlines from her often-times tumultuous relationship with her ex-husband, actor Charlie Sheen. She has since remarried and lives in Malibu with her husband, Aaron Phypers. The two are extremely active in multiple charitable causes.

3. Halle Berry: Die Another Day

Hailing from Cleveland, Halle Berry is the daughter of an English mother and an American father. She is among the best-known of all Bond Girls thanks to her performance as the heroic NSA agent Jinx Johnson — not to mention the only Bond Girl to have won Academy Award for Best Actress, thanks to her riveting performance in 2001’s Monster’s Ball.

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Before acting, Berry was a model and competed in the 1986 Miss World pageant. Since first gracing the silver screen in 1981’s Jungle Fever, Berry has held a hectic acting schedule. She has 57 screen credits to her name and counting, and was last featured in the third iteration of the successful John Wick trilogy alongside Keanu Reeves.

4. Britt Ekland: The Man With The Golden Gun

Born in Stockholm in 1942, it might come as a shock to learn that before Britt Ekland became a sex symbol, she struggled with her body image. Reflecting on her childhood with People Magazine, she remarked: “I was very heavy. God, I was brutal-looking. I always tried to be funny to make up for the fact that I was fat and ugly.”

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After leaving high school to pursue acting, Ekland happened to be sitting in a café in Italy one day when she was approached by a talent agent. Her career was already well on the ascent when she appeared as the Bond Girl called Mary Goodnight, and she featured prominently in films throughout the ’60s and ’70s. Ekland is still active today, appearing as herself on several reality TV shows.

5. Jill St. John: Diamonds Are Forever

Born Jill Oppenheim in Los Angeles, St. John began acting at the tender age of six. She starred alongside Sean Connery in the seventh film of the James Bond series playing Tiffany Case, a diamond smuggler working for a ruthless American gang sneaking jewels out of Africa.

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Off-screen, St. John has been romantically linked to men spanning the worlds of sports, politics, and film. At various moments throughout her career she has dated the likes of Michael Caine, Henry Kissinger, Sandy Koufax, Jack Nicholson, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. She is currently married to Robert Wagner, and starred alongside him in the 2014 made-for-TV Christmas film Northpole.

6. Eva Green: Casino Royale

Starring alongside Daniel Craig in his first appearance as Agent 007, French model-actress Eva Green plays femme fatale Vesper Lynd. She’s an M16 associate sent to aid James Bond on his mission to disrupt a Russian terrorist’s operation at the Hotel Monte Carlo in Montenegro. Reportedly, so that she could take the part, she turned down a role that later went to Hilary Swank in The Black Dahlia.

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Since her on-screen debut in cult classic The Dreamers in 2003, Green has featured prominently on screen. She has been nominated for and won several awards for her performances throughout her career, including a BAFTA for her role as Vesper Lynd. Entertainment Weekly named Green as the fourth-best Bond Girl of all time.

NEXT: To call this next gorgeous Bond Girl an icon would be an understatement.

7. Shirley Eaton: Goldfinger

London native Shirley Eaton stole the screen as the iconic Jill Masterson in Goldfinger, one of the most memorable Bond films of all time, alongside Sean Connery and fellow Bond Girl list member Honor Blackman. Eaton also graced the cover of Life magazine in 1964 coated with gold paint, resembling her on-screen persona.

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Debuting in 1951, Eaton’s life in movies was short-lived after Bond. In a 2008 interview, she said that she had made the decision to focus her attention on her family rather than being a glamorous actress. She published an autobiography in 1999 and has her own website featuring two books and her personal artwork.

8. Carey Lowell: License To Kill

Born in New York and raised in several countries as a child thanks to her dad’s profession as a geologist, Lowell returned to the Big Apple to pursue a modeling career. She transitioned to TV and movies in the ’80s. Though she appeared on-screen as recently as 2018, she never quite surpassed her success as Pam Bouvier in the James Bond film License to Kill.

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At first, Lowell wore a wig for her part. Then, her character is instructed by Bond, played by Timothy Dalton, to go out and buy some new clothes. After shopping and getting a spontaneous haircut, Lowell’s character returns sporting her own short hair for the rest of the film.

9. Tanya Roberts: A View to a Kill

Born Victoria Leigh Blum in The Bronx, this Bond Girl rose from humble beginnings to lead an amazing acting career. She studied at the famed Actors Studio in New York City, where she changed her name. Ironically, in A View to a Kill, Roberts plays the daughter of a wealthy oil tycoon, Stacey Sutton.

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In the film, Bond and Sutton are pitted against villain Max Zorin, played by none other than Christopher Walken. They manage to thwart his plans to destroy Silicon Valley, but not before falling in love (of course). Television fans might also recognize Roberts from the ’80s seasons of Charlie’s Angels, and from her later role as Midge Pinciotti in That ’70s Show.

10. Ursula Andress: Dr. No

Born in Switzerland in 1936, Ursula Andress’ legendary appearance as Honey Ryder in 1962’s Dr. No made her the very first on-screen Bond girl — and she set the bar high. What’s more, it wouldn’t be her last time in the world of James Bond, as she would go on to play Vesper Lynd in the 1967 Bond parody Casino Royale.

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In real life, Andress was romantically involved with James Dean just before his untimely death in 1955. She also dated the French film legend Jean Paul Belmondo, and American sex symbol Harry Hamlin. In the latter part of her film career, Andress took roles in several Italian pictures. She now splits her time between homes in Rome and Switzerland.

11. Rosamund Pike: Die Another Day

English actress Rosamund Pike began acting as a child. Despite being turned down by several stage schools, she managed to earn a position reading literature at Oxford, where she graduated in 2001. Though she was no stranger to the stage nor the TV screen, playing Miranda Frost in Die Another Day proved to be a breakout role for her.

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Starring alongside Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry, Pike played double agent Miranda Frost, receiving an Empire Award for her performance. Her illustrious career includes many critically-acclaimed roles in television and cinema, and she is perhaps best known for her role as the protagonist in David Fincher’s 2014 Gone Girl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

12. Claudine Auger: Thunderball

Paris-born Claudine Auger started acting at the famed Conservatoire de Paris. Even before she was cast in the 1965 Bond film Thunderball, Auger had earned the title of Miss France and was the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss Universe pageant. She was vacationing in the Bahamas when spotted by the film’s writer-producer, who recommended that she audition.

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One year after Bond, she starred in the World War II epic Triple Cross, although to slightly less acclaim. She played mostly foreign roles towards the end of her 40-year career, which ended in the ’90s. Sadly, Auger passed away in Paris in 2019 following a lengthy illness.

NEXT: She was stunning then — and this Bond Girl is still an absolute gem today.

13. Carole Bouquet: For Your Eyes Only

French model and actress Carole Bouquet was born just outside Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1957. She appeared in several French films before landing the role of the first ’80s Bond Girl, Melina Havelock, in 1981. Beyond an impressive film career spanning over forty features, she is also recognizable for being the face of Chanel’s No. 5 fragrance.

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Bouquet won a César Award for Best Actress in 1989 for her performance in Too Beautiful For You. She is still popular in the French film and TV world, most recently playing the lead in the Netflix France thriller La Mante. Off-screen, she is romantically linked to Philippe Sereys de Rothschild of the French branch of the Rothschild banking dynasty.

14. Maryam d’Abo: The Living Daylights

Born in London in 1960, Maryam d’Abo is best known for her role as Kara Milovy, starring alongside Timothy Dalton. In the film, her character is a sweet Czech cellist-turned-sniper, and love interest of Bond. In 1987, d’Abo featured in a Bond-themed Playboy spread, which she later admitted to People Magazine she regretted doing.

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d’Abo has remained an active actress up until 2016, despite having been treated for and successfully recovering from a brain hemorrhage in 2006. Afterwards, she made a documentary on the subject of her health journey. She is currently married to Hugh Hudson, an Oscar-nominated film director. The couple lives together in London.

15. Maud Adams: The Man With The Golden Gun & Octopussy

Swedish actress Maud Adams has the distinction of having appeared in not one, but two Bond films. She was so highly regarded by Bond series producer Albert Broccoli thanks to her performance as Andrea Anders, that he cast her in the title role in 1983’s Octopussy. Adams was discovered while she was merely out shopping in 1963. From there, she moved to New York city and began work as a model with Eileen Ford.

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She held roles in film and TV throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. She appeared, though uncredited, in a third Bond film, A View to a Kill. In 2000, she acted as bridesmaid for a fellow Bond Girl, Tanya Roberts, in That ’70s Show alongside Kristina Wayborn and Barbara Carrera (also former Bond Girls). Adams is currently married and splits time between Los Angeles and Sweden.

16. Eunice Gayson: Dr. No & From Russia With Love

Considered to be one of the first-ever Bond Girls thanks to her unforgettable appearances in the first two Eon productions of the series, Dr. No and From Russia With Love, Eunice Gayson was born in London in 1928. Before embarking on her acting career, she attended Edinburgh Academy, where she studied opera.

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Along with Honor Blackman, she also featured in the British television series The Avengers, before being cast to Bond as Sylvia Trench. She is responsible for James Bond’s signature introduction, first introducing herself as “Trench, Sylvia Trench” when confronted by Bond during a game of baccarat. Gayson passed away in 2018, aged 90.

17. Aliza Gur: From Russia With Love

Born Alizia Gross in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine (present-day Israel), Aliza Gur’s parents fled Germany escaping persecution. She earned the title of Miss Israel in 1960, and was a runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. Her talents extending beyond acting, Gur served as a combat soldier in the Israeli military and learned dressmaking at Haifa University.

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Her role as the fighting Gypsy woman Vida in From Russia With Love is her most famous, although her credits also include such acclaimed films as Exodus and A Night Train to Paris, as well as generation-defining ’60s TV series like The Wild Wild West and Get Smart. Gur eventually moved to the United States and settled in Los Angeles.

18. Barbara Bach: The Spy Who Loved Me

Born Barbara Goldbach in Queens, New York, this Bond Girl actress shortened her name and became a well-known Ford model after graduating from high school in 1964. She was cast as Russian spy Anya Amasova for the film The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977. Later that year she took a familiar route posing for Playboy, doing so once again for the magazine’s Bond-themed spread a decade later.

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Bach is perhaps best known these days for being the wife of one of the most legendary musicians on Earth, former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. The couple met in 1980 and married a year later. Coincidentally, Bach’s sister is married to famed Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. Bach and Starr currently spend most of their time in Los Angeles and are active in several charitable causes.

19. Bérénice Marlohe: Skyfall

Born in Paris to a father of Chinese descent and a French mother, Marlohe initially had plans to be a pianist after studying at Conservatoire de Paris for ten years. After starting a career in French television, Marlohe was cast in the 23rd installment of the James Bond series as villainess Sévérine, playing alongside Oscar winner Javier Bardem.

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Interestingly, she said that she had a dream where she was acting alongside Bardem months before auditioning for the role. Since her breakout in Bond, Marlohe was cast in Terrence Malick’s Song to Song, which features an all-star cast. Most recently, she held a part on David Lynch’s TV hit Twin Peaks.

20. Diana Rigg: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

English actress Diana Rigg was born in Yorkshire, and then spent her early childhood growing up in India. She is a veteran theater actress, and also makes the list as yet another former Avengers star-turned-Bond Girl. Her role as Tracy Bond represents, in fact, the only legitimate wife of the secret agent, his first marriage having unfortunately been an undercover plot.

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Rigg’s career in theater, film, and television spans more than six decades. She is recently known for her critically acclaimed role as Lady Olenna Tyrell in the hit HBO series, Game of Thrones. For her performances, she has won several awards over the years, including the CBE and honorary degrees from prestigious universities.

21. Gemma Arterton: Quantum of Solace

Borrowing her name from the famed Beatles song, English actress Gemma Arterton starred as Strawberry Fields in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which proved to be a breakout role for her. In the film, her Bond Girl character is an M16 agent stationed in Bolivia, as well as James Bond’s accomplice and love interest.

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Arterton is currently active in both film and television. Notable credits include parts in Guy Ritchie’s 2008 Rocknrolla, as well as a remake of Hansel and Gretel. She has a sister, Hannah, who is also a successful actress. She is currently married to the Irish actor Rory Keenan, who is primarily known for his stage acting.

22. Izabella Scorupco: GoldenEye

Polish-Swedish Izabella Scorupco is a triple threat as an actress, model, and former singer. Her portrayal of Natalya Simonova, the first Bond Girl to appear with Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, is perhaps her best known role in cinema. Simonova is a Russian programmer, as well as an associate and romantic interest to James Bond.

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Scorupco was married to professional ice hockey player Mariusz Czerkawski, a fact subtly alluded to by James Bond in the next film in the series, Tomorrow Never Dies. Her last film credit was in 2018. In the same year, she also remarried, and now splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.

23. Lois Chiles: Moonraker

Texan native Lois Chiles is the niece of oil tycoon and Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles. Aside from being a famous Bond Girl, she is also well-known for her role as professional golfer and socialite Jordan Baker in the on-screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby in 1974.

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In Moonraker, Chiles’ character, Dr. Holly Goodhead, helps James Bond investigate the theft of a space shuttle. The film was marked for its high production costs, and it became the highest-grossing film in the Bond series at the time. In 2005, Chiles starred in two episodes of CSI, written and directed by her friend, the one and only Quentin Tarantino.

24. Famke Janssen: GoldenEye

Prior to acting, Dutch-born actress Famke Janssen modeled for the likes of Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, and Victoria’s Secret. She achieved breakout success for her role as femme fatale Xenia Onnatop in 1995’s GoldenEye. It was the first Bond film created in a post-Soviet era.

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Aside from GoldenEye, Janssen’s notable credits include roles in famed films Rounders, The Faculty, and The House on Haunted Hill. In the 2000s, she would gain enormous success in her recurring role as Jean Gray in the X-Men series. She has several roles in post-production, and continues to feature prominently in television and in movies.

25. Jane Seymour: Live And Let Die

Born Jane Frankenberg to an American mother and British father, Seymour earned her first credit in 1970’s The Only Way. Four years later, she would earn a Bond Girl role as Solitaire in Live and Let Die. She played a tarot card reader and accomplice to James Bond, who was played by Roger Moore.

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Audiences will recognize Seymour for her famous role on television as Dr. Michaela Quinn in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and on film as Christopher Walken’s flirtatious wife in the comedy hit, Wedding Crashers. In 2018, Seymour posed for Playboy (her third time), making her the oldest woman to be featured in the magazine.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb, BBC