Ursula Andress

Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss actress, former model and sex symbol who has appeared in American, British and Italian films.

She was successful and was cast in walk-on parts in An American in Rome (1954) (starring Alberto Sordi), The Sins of Casanova (1955) (starring later Bond ally Gabriele Ferzetti), and La catena dell'odio (1955).

She was seen by a Hollywood executive who persuaded her to try her luck in Hollywood.

Andress arrived in Hollywood in late 1955.

That spring she was signed to a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures, starting at $287 a week.

The contract brought no acting roles, owing to her reluctance to learn English.

"I spent most of my time watching old Marlene Dietrich movies", she said.

Andress received some publicity for dating James Dean shortly before the actor's death.

She bought herself out of her contract and in 1956 signed with Columbia Pictures.

She made no films for them either.

She stayed in Hollywood when she married John Derek in 1957.

In 1959, it was announced she and Derek would star in a film, High Variety, but no film resulted.

Her breakthrough role was as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962).

Andress returned to acting in 1962 in an episode of Thriller, "La Strega" (1962), with Alejandro Rey.

She became internationally famous as Honey Ryder, a shell diver and James Bond's object of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond film, even though her dialogue had to be dubbed by Nikki Van der Zyl.

In what became an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history, she rose out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini sporting a large diving knife on her hip.

The calypso was sung by Diana Coupland.

The scene made Andress a "quintessential" Bond girl.

Andress later said that she owed her career to that white bikini: "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent".

Other credits include Fun in Acapulco (1963), 4 for Texas (1963), She (1965), The 10th Victim (1965), The Blue Max (1966), The Southern Star (1969), Perfect Friday (1970), Red Sun (1971), The Sensuous Nurse (1975), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), Clash of the Titans (1981), and Peter the Great (1986).

Andress, the third of six children, was born in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, to a Swiss mother, Anna, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat.

Her father was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons and her grandfather, a garden designer, took the role of being her guardian.

She has a brother, Heinz, and four sisters, Erika, Charlotte, Gisela, and Kàtey.

She went to school in Bern until she was 16 and speaks several languages, including English, French, German, and Italian.

She studied art in Paris for a year, then went to Rome, where she held down jobs including being a children’s nanny.

Andress was at a party when she met a film producer who offered her a screen test for a role in an Italian film.

Andress followed it playing the female lead in an Elvis Presley musical, Fun in Acapulco (1963).

She was billed after Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Anita Ekberg in 4 for Texas (1963); her casting in the latter led to the title being changed from Two for Texas.

Both films were widely seen.

Andress won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in 1964 for her appearance in the film.

Less so was a film Andress starred in alongside Derek, Nightmare in the Sun (1965).

In 1965, nude photographs of her from Nightmare in the Sun were published in Playboy; it was the first of seven times she was pictured in the magazine over the next fifteen years.

When asked why she had agreed to do the Playboy shoot, Andress replied coolly, "Because I'm beautiful".

Andress was cast in the title role of She (1965), playing an immortal queen, for Hammer Films and Seven Arts Productions, shot in England and Israel.

Andress agreed to make it as part of a two-picture deal with Seven Arts; it was a financial success at the box office.

Andress did not appear in the sequel, The Vengeance of She, as her contract expired before the film was produced.

Andress had a supporting role in the comedy What's New Pussycat? (1965) for producer Charles K. Feldman which was a huge hit.

She later starred as Vesper Lynd in the 1967 Bond parody Casino Royale.

The bikini she wore in the film sold at auction in 2001 for £41,125.

In 2003, in a UK Survey by Channel 4, her entrance in Dr. No was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments".