She set the standards for the Bond girls: When Ursula Andress emerged from the sea in a white bikini in 1962, it wasn't just James Bond who became weak.
The first James Bond film was shown in cinemas in October 1962 and can be seen on TV tonight at 8:15 p.m. on ProSieben. Not only did Sean Connery set a milestone with “007 chases Dr. No”, Ursula Andress also ensured that sexy Bond girls became an integral part of the cult series from then on.
In a white bikini, with diving goggles on her head and two shells in her hand, Bond girl Honey Ryder rose from the sea on October 5, 1962 – and not only turned the secret agent's head. The audience was also fascinated at the time.
The Swiss actress did not expect the audience's reaction, she said in an interview with the magazine “Management & Branding” in 2012. “I was really surprised at the response my bikini scene caused, even to this day.”
“Ursi National”, as the actress is known in Switzerland, remained the woman with the ultimate “bikini expertise” throughout her life: in 2014, at the age of 78, she took part in the bikini parade at a Swiss Miss pageant. Beauty is a gift, but not everything, said Andress. “Style and heart are also part of a great personality.” The legendary bikini was auctioned in London in 2001 for 65,000 euros.
“Our meeting was fateful for both of us”
They may have faded in memory, but Andress made many successful films in addition to the Bond film. She starred in the 1965 French-American comedy “What's New, Pussy?” about the erotic entanglements of a womanizer alongside Romy Schneider and Woody Allen. In the 1981 American-British fantasy film “Clash of the Titans” with motifs from Greek mythology, she was the goddess of love, Aphrodite.
Andress grew up in the provinces in Ostermundigen near Bern, with a Swiss mother, a German father and five siblings. At 17, she ran away to Paris with a French actor, as she said in the 2012 interview. She took dance and acting lessons, went to Rome as a model, met US actor Marlon Brando and the jet set and thus made her way to Hollywood.
She played her first role at the age of 19
She got her first role in 1955 in the film “Casanova – his love and adventures”. She wasn't even 20 years old back then. Mostly as a seductress, she appeared in front of the camera with well-known stars, such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra in “Four for Texas” and Elvis Presley in “Fun in Acapulco”. She also scored in demanding productions, such as the French-Italian science fiction film “The Tenth Victim” from 1965 with Marcello Mastroianni. Twelve years later, the two were in front of the camera again.
