biography
Born on August 22, 1925, in London, actress Honor Blackman was encouraged to select the stage as a career by her father, who gave her acting lessons one
year for her birthday. She also trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. At eighteen, she married her first husband, Bill. Following the end
of World War II, Blackman was cast in a few plays in London's West End and nabbed an uncredited role in her first film, the drama Fame Is the Spur
(1947). After signing with J. Arthur Rank's Rank Organisation in 1948, her career gained momentum with a role in the horror film Daughter of Darkness
(1948; with Maxwell Reed). She went on to star in the comedy A Boy, a Girl and a Bike (1949; with Diana Dors) and earned
supporting roles in several big-budget films, such as Conspirator (1949; with Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor) and So Long at the Fair (1950;
with Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde). By the mid 1950s, however, Blackman's first marriage fell apart, and career-wise she found herself stuck in the middle,
working steadily but without a breakthrough role. The dawning of the 1960s would soon change all that.   
LEFT: Early 1950s Rank Organisation photo of Honor Blackman. CENTER and RIGHT: Cheesecake shots from the mid 1960s  
Taking up judo during her tenure on The Avengers, actor and stuntman Joe Robinson was featured in the 1964 publication Honor Blackman's Book of Self-Defence. LEFT: Joe Robinson with Honor Blackman. CENTER and RIGHT: Doug Robinson with Honor BlackmanAs the tough secret agent widow Dr. Cathy Gale in The Avengers, Blackman finally found success and became wildly popular with British audiences. She also dabbled in singing, with the February 1964 release of the novelty song Kinky Boots, which she recorded with her The Avengers co-star Patrick Macnee. While merely a curiosity upon its original release, the song went to number 5 on the UK charts in 1990. The song was a reference to leather-clad Cathy Gale's boots which became fashionable in the 1960s. Blackman also released an album in 1965 titled Everything I've Got. After two seasons, she left her role in The Avengers in order to accept the role of Pussy Galore in the 007 film Goldfinger. Blackman was 39 years old when the film was released in December 1964 and created a sensation with audiences worldwide. She became famous practically overnight. |
the films of honor blackmanDiamond City (1949)
Blackman fights with Diana Dors in the Rank adventure Diamond CityThe Avengers (1961-1969 ITV TV Series)  
From the long-running TV series The Avengers. Blackman starred alongside Patrick Macnee from 1962 to 1964 as Dr. Cathy GaleGoldfinger (1964)
Blackman in her best-known role as Bond girl Pussy Galore in the United Artists thriller GoldfingerLife at the Top (1965) 
LEFT: With Laurence Harvey in the Columbia drama Life at the Top, a sequel to the 1959 hit film Room at the Top in which Harvey also starred. RIGHT: Blackman portrays television personality Norah HauxleyMoment to Moment (1965)
With Jean Seberg in the Universal thriller Moment to MomentThe Secret of My Success (1965) 
From the MGM comedy The Secret of My Success with James BoothShalako (1968)
From the British western Shalako with Brigitte BardotA Twist of Sand (1968)
From the adventure A Twist of Sand, shot in MaltaThe Name of the Game (1968-1971 NBC TV Series)
With Maurice Evans in a 1969 episode of The Name of the Game titled An Agent for the PlaintiffThe Last Grenade (1970)
As Katherine Whiteley in the war drama The Last Grenade, shot partly in Hong KongSomething Big (1971)
As Mary Anna Morgan in the big-budget western Something BigColumbo (1971-1978 NBC TV Series)
With Richard Basehart and Peter Falk in a 1972 episode of NBC's series Columbo titled Dagger of the MindTo the Devil a Daughter (1976)
With Nastassja Kinski in the Hammer horror flick To the Devil a Daughterlater yearsIn the early 1970s, Blackman went on a self-imposed hiatus from films and television, returning to the screen in the horror film To the Devil a Daughter (1976; with Richard Widmark and Christopher Lee). Meanwhile, her marriage to Maurice Kaufmann ended in 1975, and Blackman remained single afterward. Her career stayed strong in television, as a guest star on such programs as Dr. Who and Coronation Street and as the star of the popular British television comedy The Upper Hand, which ran from 1990 to 1996. Her final film was Cockneys vs Zombies (2012). Sadly, Honor Blackman passed away from natural causes on April 5, 2020, at age 94. She was survived by her son, Barnaby, daughter Lottie, and four grandchildren. |
filmographyFILM
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