Ursula Andress is one of the most beautiful women God has ever made. Despite being the first Bond girl, she remains, in my opinion, the most gorgeous Bond lady to this day.
After beginning her career in 1945, the dynamic actress went to incredible heights—and she is still extremely artistic today.
The 86-year-old legend now lives a peaceful life, yet she is as stunning as ever.
There have been many beautiful ladies in the James Bond series, but none can compare to Ursula Andress, who was incredibly stunning in “Dr. No.”
The Swiss-German actress, who died in 2005, rose to fame as the legendary shell diver Honey Ryder, Sean Connery’s love interest in the first Bond film (1962). Connery wasn’t the only one who gasped as she emerged from the sea in the James Bond film.
“That was a momentous event for me,” Ursula told the Sunday Post at the time. “I believe that a simple bikini made a huge impact on my career. It catapulted me to success.
“I’d done a few films before that, but none had the effect of that sequence in Doctor No.”
Ursula was born into a family of seven children. Her mother was Swiss, while her father, Rolf Andress, was a German ambassador. Ursula was restless as a youngster, and at the age of 17, she fled to Italy with a male actor.
Ursula’s discovery would take place in Italy.
“In Rome, any female with blonde hair—well, the Italians approach you on the street, throw all sorts of tantrums, and right away they say, ‘You must be in photos. You have to.’ So I ended up in movies,” Ursula once explained.
The young woman wanted to become an actress and got small parts in Italian movies. Ursula soon got the attention of Paramount Pictures and relocated to the United States. After crossing the ocean, she ran into James Dean. They dated for a brief time before the actor died.
After that, Ursula met up-and-coming actor John Derek, who played Humphrey Bogart’s partner in the movie Knock on Any Door. They fell in love at first sight and married in 1957 in Las Vegas. Derek, a married father at the time, abandoned his family to be with Ursula, who was 19 at the time.
“He taught me how to be a lady,” she explained in 1986. “Before him, I knew nothing about the world. I was still a child at the time, and he taught me how to love. That was a lovely connection.”
Ursula’s only motivation for remaining in Hollywood was her marriage to Derek. However, her meeting with Paramount did not result in any film opportunities, so she remained essentially unemployed.
“I spent much of my time watching old Marlene Dietrich pictures,” she told James Bacon, a journalist, in 1963.
There were speculations that she might appear with her famous husband on occasion, but it never came to fruition.
Later, in the early 1960s, she finally earned her big-screen break. And it wasn’t just any job; Ursula had secured the role of the first Bond girl.
She enthralled viewers as the bikini-clad Honey Ryder, becoming a worldwide sex symbol. As she emerged from the Caribbean water wearing a white bikini and a huge diving knife on her hip, the sight became instantly memorable.
“We chose her image from a stack of rejections. She was very wet, but she was stunning. So we struck a bargain for her. There was this wonderful creature when I arrived in Jamaica for the filming. “I realized she was the sort of lady we needed for future leading ladies,” producer Albert Broccoli remarked.
Ursula represented a new form of a female sex symbol in various aspects. She wasn’t the conventionally hourglass-shaped lady of the day but rather a thin, athletic woman with attitude.
Many people might be surprised to learn that voice actress Nikki van der Zyl provided the lines for Ursula in that production. The iconic bathing suit was auctioned off in 2001, with a bidder paying about $50,000 for the ivory-white two-piece.
Ursula’s life has changed forever because of the way she played Honey Ryder. Even today, she is the standard by which all Bond girls are compared.
“This bikini catapulted me to fame.” “As a result of my role as the first Bond girl in Dr. No, I was granted the opportunity to choose my own future assignments and become financially independent.”
After the classic film, Ursula and Sean Connery became excellent friends and stayed in touch after “Dr. No.” In 2020, when the Scottish actor died, Ursula was one of the first people to say how she felt about her co-star.
“He was a wonderful dude. Such men no longer exist; they are all too selfish and self-absorbed. Nowadays, finding someone like Sean is difficult. “He was a wonderful friend and a fantastic performer,” she remarked.
The blonde beauty had a prosperous period in the 1960s. Ursula played the female role alongside Elvis Presley in Fun in Acapulco in 1963.
Rumors of a relationship between Ursula and Elvis quickly circulated, and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was clearly taken with his stunning co-star.
Those close to Elvis, on the other hand, claim that “nothing transpired” between the two stars.
In her memoir, Elvis and Me, Pricilla Presley recounted what Elvis had to say about Ursula and his affection for her. Elvis felt Ursula had a “body like a man,” with no hips and shoulders wider than his, according to Priscilla.
“I was ashamed taking my goddamn shirt off next to her,” Elvis said.
“I was shocked to hear Elvis mention Ursula Andress, the beautiful sex queen of Dr. No. ‘Wasn’t she lovely?’ I inquired. ‘Pretty?’ he chuckled. ‘Hell, she had a bone structure that could cut you in two if you rotated too fast,’ Priscilla explained.
Ursula featured in the 1967 Bond parody Casino Royale. The film was a great box office hit, and Ursula was paid $240,000 for her role as the goddess-mode stunning Vesper Lynd, according to London Life.
Off and on film, the stunning lady had a smoldering presence.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met somebody who was so widely adored by everyone in a studio. They’d all do anything for her, and this is quite remarkable. Someone will one day bring the genuine Ursula to the cinema in a comedy, and she will amaze everyone. “The problem is she’s so uptight,” remarked Val Guest, who directed Ursula in Casino Royale.
Ursula changed her focus and appeared in numerous action pictures in the 1970s. She was also a regular on television, appearing in the 1980s in the soap opera Falcon Crest. Unfortunately, she was frequently typecast. Filmmakers wanted her to play a seductive but icy blonde beauty, but Ursula didn’t necessarily want that.
She’s taken a break from acting these days. Ursula’s most recent acting role was as “Madonna” in the low-budget film Die Vogelpredigt in 2005.
Yet the former celebrity is still a talented artist. She enjoys painting and is an avid photographer.
“I am much more into art these days; it has always been my first passion,” she said in 2018 to The Sunday Post.
“I appreciate photography as well, and my images have been published in a number of international journals. I’m quite pleased with that since I’ve always enjoyed being creative.”
The 86-year-old actress now divides her time between her Rome apartment and her home in Switzerland. She loves to communicate in Italian and has not ruled out a return to the big screen.
“I truly have retired, but do you ever retire?” she asked The Sunday Post. “I still get offers and am tempted, but I have to accept that I am no longer a young girl—though I am in spirit.”
Ursula was not permitted to be near guys as a young and gorgeous teen.
Her parents intended to protect her, but the Swiss beauty disclosed that she married French actor Daniel Gelin when she was 17 and he was 32 in 1953.
Ursula has had a number of heated relationships throughout the years.
She has had romantic relationships with celebrities such as Dennis Hopper, James Dean, Gerardo Amato, and Julio Iglesias.
Ursula’s marriage to John Derek ended in 1964, when she moved in with prominent French cinema actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. The pair has been together for over eight years. Jean-Paul, according to Ursula, was her true love.
“I was unfaithful to my spouse because of my passion for Jean-Paul. That was the only time I was disloyal to the man I loved, and I would never do it again,” she told the New Straits Times in 1986.
“He (Jean-Paul) was the world’s most passionate and desirable man. He was amazing, outstanding, and fantastic. Through him, I found realms I never knew existed”.
Ursula met actor Harry Hamlin while filming Clash of the Titans in 1979. Even though he was 15 years her junior, Ursula and Harry fell in love almost instantly. The pair never married, although they did have a son in 1980.
Ursula was 44 years old when she had her son, Dimitri Alexander Hamlin. Ursula and Hamlin divorced in 1983. According to news sources at the time, Hamlin left Ursula to pursue his profession. Ursula remains in Los Angeles to raise Dimitri, their son.
Dimitri is now an adult who has followed in his parents’ footsteps. The 43-year-old has dabbled in everything, including acting, modeling, and starring in music videos.
Ursula dated a number of attractive men after her divorce from Hamlin, including Brazilian footballer Paulo Roberto Falco.
Ursula had a brief romance with martial arts instructor Jeff Speakman in the 1990s, but she hasn’t been officially associated with anyone since.
Such a legend and captivating beauty! Not only is she attractive, but she is also highly intelligent.
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