Martine Beswick

Martine Beswick Actress - Born to British parents in Jamaica on September 26, 1941, beautiful Martine Beswick harbored an early desire to be an actress. The adolescent Beswick began to study acting in Britain in the early 1950s, but she moved back to Jamaica in the late 1950s. Beswick won the title "Miss Jamaica" during this period. After modeling for a brief period of time, she was spotted by a talent scout in a travelogue. The budding actress was briefly considered for a sizeable role in the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962; with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress), but Ursula Andress eventually won the part. Nonetheless, Beswick appears in the picture as the dancing girl in the opening credits.

After a small role in the British film Saturday Night Out (1963; with Bernard Lee), Beswick was cast as a fighting gypsy girl in From Russia with Love (1963; with Sean Connery and Lotte Lenya) and was invited back by Bond producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to portray a secret agent in Thunderball (1965; with Sean Connery and Luciana Paluzzi). The following year she was cast in a larger role in One Million Years B.C. (1966; with Raquel Welch and John Richardson) and landed the starring role in the campfest Prehistoric Women (1967). After making a few pictures in Italy, including John the Bastard (1967; with John Richardson and Gordon Mitchell), Beswick moved to the US and did quite a bit of television work. Beyond the Bond films, Beswick's best-known film is perhaps the Hammer horror flick Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971; with Ralph Bates).

Roles for Martine Beswick began to dry up in the late 1980s, yet she found work in television and several films. Some of the latter include the horror films The Offspring (1987; with Vincent Price and Clu Gulager) Evil Spirits (1990; with Anthony Eisley and Virginia Mayo), and Night of the Scarecrow (1995; with Gary Lockwood), her last film to date. Today, Martine Beswick is a frequent interview subject and still looks fantastic.