James Bond Girl Martine Beswicke at 75

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2016-01-01

A celebration of the ever-so beautiful model (Miss Jamaica 1961) and actress Martine Beswicke on her 75th birthday. Read our interview with Martine from August 2012.

With this page, From Sweden with Love would like to extend our personal wishes to Ms. Beswicke and celebrate her birthday.

"Dear Martine - Happy birthday and warm regards from Sweden, we love you!"

About Martine Beswicke:
Martine was born on 26 September 1941 in Port Antonio, Jamaica to English parents. In 1953, the family moved to England.

Martine Beswicke is best known for her two appearances in the James Bond film series which also makes her unique. Although she auditioned for the first Bond film Dr. No (1962), she was cast in the second film From Russia with Love (1963) (1963) as the fiery gypsy girl, Zora. She engaged in the famous "cat fight" scene with her rival Vida (played by former Miss Israel, Aliza Gur). She was incorrectly billed as "Martin Beswick" in the title sequence. Beswicke then appeared as the ill-fated Paula Caplan in Thunderball (1965) (1965). She had been away from the Caribbean so long that she was required to sunbathe constantly for two weeks before filming, in order to look like a local.

Martine went on to appear in One Million Years B.C. (1966) opposite Raquel Welch, with whom she also did a cat fight scene. She then appeared in various Hammer Studio low budget films, most notably Slave Girls (1967) and the gender-bending Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971). She played Adelita in the well-regarded spaghetti western, A Bullet for the General (1966) opposite Klaus Kinski and Gian Maria Volonté.

In the 1970s, Beswicke moved to Hollywood and regularly appeared on both the big screen and small screen. She made numerous guest appearances in television series including Mannix (1970), The Six Million Dollar Man (1975-1976), Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy (1982), Falcon Crest (1985) and Sledge Hammer! (1987). She also starred as the Queen of Evil in Oliver Stone's 1974 directorial debut, Seizure. In 1980, she played the lead role in the comedy film, The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980).

Beswicke was active well into the 1990s. In recent years, she has mainly participated in film documentaries, providing commentary and relating her experiences on the many films she has appeared in. She owned a removals business in London, but is now semi-retired except for her guest appearances at international collector shows and Bond events.

Contrary to speculation recorded elsewhere, Beswicke never married and was not one of the silhouetted dancing girls in the opening credits to Dr. No.

Filmography:
1995: Night of the Scarecrow (Barbara)
1993: Wide Sargasso Sea (Aunt Cora)
1992: Critters 4 (Angela)
1992: Life on the Edge (Linda James)
1991: Trancers II (Nurse Trotter)
1990: Miami Blues (Noira, Waitress)
1990: Evil Spirits (Vanya)
1987: Cyclone (Waters)
1987: The Offspring (Katherine White)
1986: Balboa (Narrator)
1980: Melvin and Howard (Realty Agent)
1980: The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (Xaviera Hollander)
1979: The Tenth Month (Joan Poole)
1978: My Husband Is Missing (Francesca Bellini)
1978: Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (Red Haired Lady)
1975: Strange New World (Tana)
1975: Crime Club (Dr. Sonia Schroeder)
1974: Il bacio (Nara Kotosky)
1974: Seizure (Queen of Evil)
1973: Ultimo tango a Zagarol (La ragazza)
1972: Thirty Dangerous Seconds
1971: Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (Sister Hyde)
1967: John il bastardo (Dona Antonia)
1967: The Penthouse (Harry)
1967: Slave Girls (Kari)
1966: El chuncho, quien sabe? (Adelita)
1966: One Million Years B.C (Nupondi)
1965: Thunderball (Paula Caplan)
1964: Saturday Night Out (Barmaid)
1963: From Russia With Love (Zora)

Television series:
1990: Equal Justice (Queen Maria Romani)
1987: Shell Game Mrs. Susan Bonne
1987: Sledge Hammer! (Lana)
1987: Once a Hero
1985: Falcon Crest (Pamela Lynch)
1985: Santa Barbara (Courier)
1985: Cover Up (Melissa)
1984: Days of Our Lives (Abigail Abernathy)
1984: Buffalo Bill
1979-1984: Fantasy Island (Monique)
1983: The Powers of Matthew Star (Katya)
1982: The Fall Guy (Countess Vitt)
1981: Quincy M.E. (Israeli Agent Hanna Weiss/Mrs. Lieberman)
1980: Hart to Hart (Ruby Braff)
1978: The Next Step Beyond
1977: Baretta (Belly Dancer)
1977: Aspen (Joan Carolinian)
1975-1976: The Six Million Dollar Man (Julia Flood/Shali Giba)
1976: City of Angels
1975: Switch (Veronique)
1971: Longstreet (Nikki Bell)
1971: Night Gallery (Susan Davis)
1970: Mannix (Eve Brady)
1969: The Name of the Game (Marie)
1968-1969: It Takes a Thief (Christine Leland/Maria)
1966: Court Martial (Mara Baccia)
1965: Love Story (Lindy)
1965: John Drake (Girl)
1964: HMS Paradise (5th Wren)

Photo above:
The gorgeous Martine Beswiske dancing while Sean Connery studies the screenplay during the filming of Thunderball in The Bahamas 1965.

Read more about Martine Beswicke's acting career on IMDB:

www.imdb.com/name/nm0000936/

Tags:

#birthdays

#bond_girls

#martine_beswicke

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James Bond Girl Martine Beswicke at 75

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