Probably best known for her role as one of the earlier Bond Girls in the movie Goldfinger, in which she played the role of Pussy Galore, but this actress continued to grace the screens long after her brush with Sean Connery! Honor was credited with being the second oldest Bond Girl with the oldest being Deborah Kerr.

Honor Blackman was born on August 22nd 1925 in West Ham, London where she trained as an actress at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama which was also located in London. Her first acting lessons were paid for by her father as a birthday present.

In the early days of her acting career Honor starred opposite Dirk Bogarde in Life at the Top and with Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot in Shalako and in Something Big with the now legendary Dean Martin.

As far back as 1963 Honor was appearing in blockbuster movies such as Jason and the Argonauts.

On the small screen Honor also garnered attention and success in the British television series, The Avengers, in which she played role of Cathy Gale and later being replaced by Diana Rigg in the series who played the role of Emma Peel the high kicking karate expert and side kick of John Steed, played by Peter Macnee. 

Following her role in The Avengers she and Patrick Macnee recorded a fun single together in 1964 titled Kinky Boots which to everyone’s surprise peaked at number 5 in the UK charts in 1990 after receiving a lot of air play on the BBC. After the success of the single Blackman recorded a full album of songs entitled Everything I've Got.

It was Honor’s role in the Avengers that inspired film director Albert Broccoli to cast her in the role of Pussy Galore.

Honor’s small screen appearances have also included a role in the long running British soap opera, Coronation Street, when in September 2004 she was cast in a storyline about wife swapping.

In her personal life Honor has been married twice. First to Bill Sankey in 1946 for ten years and then to British actor maurice Kaufmann from 1963 until1975. Together they adopted two children, Barnaby and Lottie.

Blackman is known to be a supporter of Republic, a campaign to replace the Monarchy with an elected head of state and to those ends she refused the offer of an O.B.E. in Queen Elizabeth II’s 2002 honours list.

ABB