#35 Shirley Eaton

Shirley Eaton will always be remembered for getting painted in gold and then expiring on James Bond’s bed. If you’re a real Bond fan like me, you may have a hard time understanding that she was actually in a number of other movies (primarily comedies, by the way) and had an acting career that spanned almost 20 years.

Shirley’s Wikipedia article notes that “she was considered a sex symbol in the 1960s.” In other late-breaking news, Wikipedia also announced that the pope is, indeed, a Catholic and that bears have actually been spotted going number two in certain sylvan settings.

Embarrassing Movies

• Dentist on the Job (yup, the thing that begins Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
• The Million Eyes of Sumaru *
• The Blood of Fu Manchu
• The Naked Brigade

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• Trapped in the quicksand of love...Caught up in a nightmare of murder and intrigue!
• Terrific... Shocking... Scandalous...
• LUSCIOUS LIPS - Lethal in their biting sting of death!
• SHE is the most SADISTIC...DIABOLICAL...WOMAN WHO EVER LIVED!

Embarrassing Characters

• Deirdre Proudfoot
• Millicent Groaker
• Sophie Clutterbuck
• Angel Dream
• Black Widow

Interesting Tidbits

• First appearance on stage at 12, TV at 14, and the big screen at 17
• Trained in ballet and voice
• Appeared in Goldfinger for only five minutes, with her death coming at minute 16
• Has actually worked with two Bonds, Connery and Moore (on The Saint, for the latter)
• Gave it all up to be a mom at age 32
• Also paints and sculpts and has published a book of poetry
• Got painted in gold again, at age 78, to mark the 50th anniversary of Goldfinger
• You cannot suffocate from being covered in paint (Snopes)

Where can I learn more?

• Golden Girl (her autobio)
• Official website
• Facebook page
• MI6 (Bond site)
• IMDb
• Sunday Express interview
• Wikipedia
• Brian’s Drive-In Theater

"He [makeup artist Paul Rabiger] was as impersonal
about gilding me as if he was painting a barn."

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