Ursula Andress, the third of six children, was born on 19 March 1936 in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, to a Swiss mother, Anna, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat. Her father was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons and her grandfather, a garden designer, took the role of being her guardian.[2] She has a brother, Heinz, and four sisters, Erika, Charlotte, Gisela, and Kàtey.[3]
Andress went to school in Bern until she was 16 and learned several languages, including English, French, German, and Italian. She studied art in Paris for a year, then went to Rome, where she held down jobs including being a children’s nanny.[4]
Career
Andress was at a party when she met a film producer who offered her a screen test for a role in an Italian film. She was successful and was cast in walk-on parts in An American in Rome (1954) (starring Alberto Sordi), The Sins of Casanova (1955) (starring later Bond ally Gabriele Ferzetti), and La catena dell'odio (1955).[4] She was seen by a Hollywood executive who persuaded her to try her luck in Hollywood.[5]
Andress arrived in Hollywood in late 1955.[6] That spring she was signed to a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures, starting at $287 a week.[7] The contract brought no acting roles, owing to her reluctance to learn English.[8] "I spent most of my time watching old Marlene Dietrich movies", she said.[9] Andress received some publicity for dating James Dean shortly before the actor's death.[10] She bought herself out of her contract[11] and in 1956 signed with Columbia Pictures.[12] She made no films for them either.[13] She stayed in Hollywood when she married John Derek in 1957. In 1959, it was announced she and Derek would star in a film, High Variety, but no film resulted.[14]
Andress returned to acting in 1962 in an episode of Thriller, "La Strega" (1962), with Alejandro Rey. She became internationally famous as Honey Ryder, a shell diver and James Bond's object of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond film, even though her dialogue had to be dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl.[15] In what became an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history,[16][17][18] she rose out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini sporting a large diving knife on her hip. The calypso singing her character did in that scene was dubbed by Diana Coupland.[19] The scene made Andress a "quintessential" Bond girl.[20][21] Andress later said that she owed her career to that white bikini: "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent".[16][22] The bikini she wore in the film sold at auction in 2001 for £41,125.[23][24][25] In 2003, in a UK Survey by Channel 4, her entrance in Dr. No was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments".[26] Andress won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in 1964 for her appearance in the film.[27]
In 1965, nude photographs of her from Nightmare in the Sun were published in Playboy; it was the first of seven times she was pictured in the magazine over the next fifteen years.[5][29] When asked why she had agreed to do the Playboy shoot, Andress replied coolly, "Because I'm beautiful".[30][31]
Andress was cast in the title role of She (1965), playing an immortal queen, for Hammer Films and Seven Arts Productions, shot in England and Israel. Andress agreed to make it as part of a two-picture deal with Seven Arts; it was a financial success at the box office. Andress did not appear in the sequel, The Vengeance of She, as her contract expired before the film was produced.[32]
Andress had a supporting role in the comedy What's New Pussycat? (1965) for producer Charles K. Feldman which was a huge hit. She went to France to play Jean-Paul Belmondo's love interest in Up to His Ears (1965), which was popular in France; she and Belmondo became romantically involved, leading to her and Derek divorcing (although they had already been separated for a year).[33] Andress moved to Paris to live with Belmondo and it was her home for the next seven years.[11]
Andress made her second film for Seven Arts: another with Derek, who again starred and directed, Once Before I Die (1966), shot in the Philippines. More widely seen was the Bond satireCasino Royale (1967), also produced by Feldman, where Andress played Vesper Lynd, an occasional spy who persuades Evelyn Tremble, played by Peter Sellers, to carry out a mission. It was a big box office hit. Her fee was a reported £200,000.[4]Val Guest directed Andress in Casino Royale and said "I don't think I have ever met someone who was so universally loved by everyone in a studio. They'd all do anything for her and this is really quite something. One day someone is going to get the real Ursula on the screen in a comedy and she's going to astound everybody. The trouble is that she's so tense".[36]
In Italy, she appeared alongside fellow former Bond girl Claudine Auger in Anyone Can Play (1968) for director Luigi Zampa. She then went to Africa to make The Southern Star (1969) with George Segal, which was a hit in England.[37] She appeared nude or semi-nude in nearly all of her film roles between 1969 and 1979, earning her the nickname "Ursula Undress".[38]
Andress went to England to appear in Perfect Friday (1970), a heist film starring Stanley Baker and David Warner. In Spain, she appeared in Red Sun (1971), a Western with an international cast including Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, and Alain Delon. In a 1972 interview, she said "I think my image, especially to Americans, is that of a femme fatale, a man-eating woman. I'm not empty-headed or calculating and cool. But maybe my looks give that impression. I'm disciplined in my doings and undisciplined in my emotions. I can't control the things I feel or hide my feelings".[11]
In 1982, she portrayed Mabel Dodge in the adventure-drama film Red Bells and guest starred on shows like Manimal and The Love Boat. In France. she was in Liberté, égalité, choucroute (1985).
On television, she participated in the 1986 Emmy-winning miniseries Peter the Great, and joined the cast of the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest for a three-episode arc in 1988 as an exotic foreigner who assists David Selby in retrieving Dana Sparks from a white slave ring. Andress was also in Big Man – The Diva (1988) with Bud Spencer and Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders (1989).
Since the beginning of the 1990s, her acting appearances have been rare. She was in Klassäzämekunft (1990) (English title: Broken Silence), The Cave of the Golden Rose 3 (1993), The Cave of the Golden Rose 4 (1994) and Cremaster 5 (1995). In 1995, Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history." Her last role to date was playing "Madonna" in the low-budget 2005 Swiss feature Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche (English title: The Bird Preachers). She appeared in the documentary Masterpiece or Forgery? The Story of Elmyr De Hory (2008).
Personal life
Andress has stated that she lost her virginity to married actor Daniel Gélin in 1953, when she was 17 and he was 32. She dated Dennis Hopper and James Dean after moving to the US in 1955, and that same year began an affair with actor/director John Derek, a married father of two who walked out on his wife, Pati Behrs, and their family to be with 19-year-old Andress.[40] Derek and Andress wed on 2 February 1957, in Las Vegas, but separated in 1964 over her affair with Once Before I Die co-star Ron Ely,[40] officially divorcing in 1966.[41] During the interim, the separated but still married Andress publicly dated John Richardson, her co-star from She, and Marcello Mastroianni, her co-star from The 10th Victim.[42][43]
When Andress broke her arm in late summer 1978, the official story had it that she'd been struck by Hurricane Norman while bodysurfing in Malibu, but rumors flew that she actually suffered the injury during a fight with her on-again/off-again boyfriend O'Neal.[47] O'Neal and Andress were in a relationship twice, first from 1972 to 1973, then again from 1977 to 1978.
Andress lived with actor Harry Hamlin after meeting on the set of Clash of the Titans in 1979.[48] She gave birth to their son, Dimitri Alexander Hamlin, on 19 May 1980.[49] The night of her delivery, Linda Evans drove Andress to the hospital while Evans' assistant Bunky Young retrieved Hamlin from the set of King of the Mountain.[50][51] Although she was engaged to Hamlin,[52] the couple never married.[49] In 1983, Hamlin broke up with her.[53]
In the mid-1980s, Andress was romantically involved with soccer player Paulo Roberto Falcão, actor Gerardo Amato, singer Julio Iglesias, real estate developer Stan Herman, and bodybuilder Mario Natokis.[54] In 1986, she began dating future Sicilian Regional Assembly member[55] Fausto Fagone, then a university student; he was 20 and she was 50.[56] The relationship, which infuriated Fagone's parents, lasted until 1991.[41] Later that year, Andress briefly dated martial arts expert Jeff Speakman, but has not been publicly linked with anyone since.
In 2017, Andress sold her home in Beverly Hills at a considerable profit.[57] She also has resided in Florida, Virginia, and Spain.[58] As of 2022, Andress splits her time between an apartment in Rome and a house in Gstaad, near her siblings. Her preferred language is Italian.[59]
Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo was a French actor. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward, frequently portraying police officers and criminals in action thriller films. His best known credits include Breathless (1960), That Man from Rio (1964), Pierrot le Fou (1965), Borsalino (1970), and The Professional (1981). An undisputed box-office champion like Louis de Funès and Alain Delon of the same period, Belmondo attracted nearly 160 million spectators in his 50-year career. Between 1969 and 1982 he played four times in the most popular films of the year in France: The Brain (1969), Fear Over the City (1975), Animal (1977), Ace of Aces (1982), being surpassed on this point only by Louis de Funès.
Capucine was a French fashion model and actress known for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther (1963) and What's New Pussycat? (1965). She appeared in 36 films and 17 television productions between 1948 and 1990.
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O'Toole, Holly Goodhead, or Xenia Onatopp. The female leads in the films, such as Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, or Eva Green, can also be referred to as "Bond girls". The term Bond girl may also be considered as an anachronism, with some female cast members in the films preferring the designation Bond woman.
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and curvaceous figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita (1960). Ekberg worked primarily in Italy, where she became a permanent resident in 1964.
Claudine Auger was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She earned the title of Miss France Monde 1958 and went on to finish as the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest.
John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He was also known for launching the career of his fourth wife, Bo Derek.
Jon Hall was an American film actor known for playing a variety of adventurous roles, as in 1937's The Hurricane, and later when contracted to Universal Pictures, including Invisible Agent and The Invisible Man's Revenge and six films he made with Maria Montez. He was also known to 1950s fans as the creator and star of the Ramar of the Jungle television series which ran from 1952 to 1954. Hall directed and starred in two 1960s sci-fi films in his later years, The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965) and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966).
Deborah Walley was an American actress noted for playing the title role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and appearing in several beach party films.
Honeychile Rider is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Dr. No. In the 1962 Bond film of the same name, her name was shortened and spelled Honey Ryder. In the film, she is played by Swiss actress Ursula Andress, with her lines dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl due to Andress' heavy accent.
Joel Dee "Jody" McCrea was an American actor. He was the son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a 1965 Pathécolor comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and distributed by American International Pictures. Starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart and Jack Mullaney, and featuring Fred Clark, the film is a parody of the then-popular spy trend, made using actors from AIP's beach party and Edgar Allan Poe films. The film was retitled Dr G. and the Bikini Machine in England due to a threatened lawsuit from Eon, holder of the rights to the James Bond series.
Pamela Tiffin Wonso was an American film and television actress.
She is a 1965 British adventure film made by Hammer Film Productions in CinemaScope, based on the 1887 novel by H. Rider Haggard. It was directed by Robert Day and stars Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, John Richardson, Rosenda Monteros, and Christopher Lee. The film was an international success and led to a 1968 sequel, The Vengeance of She, with Olinka Berova in the title role.
Nightmare in the Sun is a 1965 drama film directed by Marc Lawrence in his feature theatrical directing debut. It stars Ursula Andress, John Derek, and Aldo Ray, with a cameo appearance by Sammy Davis Jr. and an early role of Robert Duvall.
The 10th Victim is a 1965 science fiction film directed and co-written by Elio Petri, starring Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress, Elsa Martinelli, and Salvo Randone. An international co-production between Italy and France, it is based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 short story "Seventh Victim".
Once Before I Die is a 1966 war drama starring Ursula Andress and directed and produced by then-husband John Derek, from whom she was officially divorced before the film was released, and who also appeared in the film. The directorial debut of Derek, the film was based on a 1945 novel Quit for the Next by Lieutenant Anthony March.
Up to His Ears is a 1965 French-Italian international co-production adventure comedy film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Ursula Andress. It was an indirect sequel to That Man from Rio reuniting many of the same team; directed by Philippe de Broca written by Daniel Boulanger, stunt work by Gil Delamare it was loosely based on the 1879 novel Tribulations of a Chinaman in China by Jules Verne.
The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr. No, is cited as the most famous bikini of all time and an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history.
A fur/hide bikini was worn by Raquel Welch in the 1966 British-made prehistoric saga One Million Years B.C. In that bikini, she was described as "wearing mankind's first bikini" and the fur bikini was described as a "definitive look of the 1960s".
Marie Therese "Tessa" Prendergast, also known as Tessa Welborn, was a Jamaican actress, fashion designer, businesswoman, and socialite. A renowned beauty and movie starlet in the 1950s, she is best-remembered today as the designer of the taboo-breaking white bikini worn by Ursula Andress in the 1962 film Dr. No.
↑ "Hollywood Mystery 7 Years Then She Learns English". Chicago Tribune. 24 March 1963. p.e11. ProQuest182602468.
↑ Korman, Seymour (5 February 1956). "JAMES DEAN: Brilliant Young Star Met Tragic End on Eve of His Greatest Success; but Even in Death His Fame Continues to Grow". Chicago Daily Tribune. p.f18. ProQuest179752428.
1 2 3 Haber, J. (30 July 1972). "Ursula andress' private thoughts on living, loving". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest157080235.
↑ Schallert, E. (17 March 1956). "Drama". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest166947855.
↑ "Rag doll steals show as trade week starts". Los Angeles Times. 21 May 1956. ProQuest166951200.
↑ Scott, J. L. (10 September 1959). "Evans will co-star in 'peyton' sequel". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest167506648.
"Happy Birthday Ursula Andress". 10vor10. 18 May 2006. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. On the occasion of the inauguration of the Swiss Consulate General in Scotland, Ursula Andress celebrates her 70th birthday on board the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh
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