Miss Taro N° 1 : Martine Beswick

1964. Martine Beswick was my favourite Bond Girl. (Well, I didn’t come across Ursula until 1966). After losing the Dr No role of the dangerous minx, Miss Taro, she merely danced in the credits - and then became first girl to be a Bond Babe twice: Zora, the gypsy cat-fighter in FRWL and the bikinied agent, Paula, committing suicide in Thunderball. “She wasn’t in the book. I know because I read it never thinking... I’d be in a second film. In fact, they told me that. They even scrapped the part, then got so desperate (they needed an extra girl in the plot), they put the part back and me in it!”
1967, Twickenham Studios. While shooting The Penthouse, Martine told me she’d never been a Miss Jamaica. “Baloney, just Bond publicity. I was Miss Auto Car - and made sure I was going to win, making sure my hair, figure, was perfect. I was after the prize - a car - in order to sell it back. They didn’t like that. Nor did I. Hah! It was a second-hand car. It still paid my way to London... Sean is great. Terence Young is fantastic. An actors’ director. He takes an interest in each actor individually in a scene - not just the star. He even encourages the extras. Terry used to say I was Miss Jamaica... in 1927.”
Tony Crawley
[Every 007 film has a page on Tony’s website, crawleyscasting calls.com]