English-born Caroline Munro was already a skilled actor before joining the esteemed list of Bond Girls. Like many other Bond girls before her, her career began with modeling. She modeled for Vogue magazine at the age of 17. She then had small roles in films like Casino Royale.
After this, she became an actress in horror and science fiction films. Her role as the deadly Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me stands out as one of the best Bond girls ever. The star retired from acting in the ’80s.
Gloria Hendry
Gloria Hendry became the first African-American woman to play a Bond girl in the movie series. She acted alongside Jane Seymour in Live and Let Die. She played a bold and confident take-no-prisoners CIA agent, named Rosie Carver.
Unfortunately, her role didn’t lead her to major success in the film industry, and she wasn’t able to land other roles following the film.
Cecilie Thomsen
From a young age, Netherlands-born Thomsen pursued acting. Her breakthrough role came as the sexy Professor Inga Bergstrom, in Tomorrow Never Dies. The movie opened many acting doors for her.
While it would be easy to get overshadowed by Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeah, this blonde beauty definitely made a name for herself in the film and deserves credit for her performance.
Carey Lowell
Carey was famous well before her Bond days. She spent her childhood living in several countries and states until her family eventually settled down in Colorado. She started to study literature at the University of Colorado, Boulder but left after a year to pursue modeling in New York City. She then decided to pursue acting.
Her big break came when she landed the role of Pam Bouvier, a CIA agent who partners with Bond in 1989’s Licence to Kill. Following the role, she played Jamie Ross on Law and Order. She returned to acting in 2018, following a six-year hiatus, for a guest role on Blue Bloods.
Claudine Auger
Many of Bond’s women started their careers as models, Claudine Auger being one of them. She was born in Paris, France, where she worked as a model. She won the Miss France Monde title and was the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World competition. Following these wins, she acted in minor film roles. When she was on holiday in Nassau, she was spotted by Kevin McClory, who suggested that she audition for the 1965 film, Thunderball, the fourth in the James Bond film series. She landed the role of Dominique “Domino” Derval.
While her role was initially intended to be for an Italian woman, producers were so impressed by Auger that they rewrote the part to fit a French woman. Due to her English, her voice was dubbed. Auger later revealed that she related to her character because they were both involved with older men. Following her role in the Bond film, she continued to act in several films through the 90s, although she acted mostly in European films and wasn’t so successful in the U.S film scene.