A Celebration of actress Martine Beswicke on her birthday
By: Steven Jay Rubin
Published:
2020-09-26
The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia presents This Day in James Bond History - celebrating the birthday of Jamaica-born actress Martine Beswicke, who made her motion picture debut as Zora, one of the fiery gypsy girls who’s engaged in a life or death struggle when all hell breaks loose in From Russia with Love (1963).
Thanks to
Terence Young’s marvelous direction,
Peter Hunt’s cutting, and some inspired music from
John Barry, this is a pulse-pounding sequence. Unfortunately, when it came time to credit her, the bozo credit creators called her “Martin Beswick.” Geez.
Martine Beswicke as Zora in From Russia with Love. © 1963 Danjaq S.A. & United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved.
Young brought her back in
Thunderball (1965), where she plays Paula Caplan, Bond’s (
Sean Connery) assistant in Nassau.
She’s one of the few actresses to play two different characters in an 007 adventure.
Martine always brought a zest and zeal to her performances, many in the horror and fantasy action genre, including
One Million Years B.C. starring
Raquel Welch,
Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (guess who she played?) and
The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood.
So let’s raise a glass of raki to a rockin’ actress and a supporting star in the 007 universe.
All text. Copyright © 2020 Steven Jay Rubin. All rights reserved.
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