Honor Blackman: Born in 1926, in London, Honor Blackman is remembered mostly for two things: she was the first woman on British television to wear black leather clothes and beat up villains; and she thwarted the British film censors in the 1964 James Bond movie, Goldfinger, with her Bond beauty moniker of Pussy Galore.
Sean Connery's first words to her when she introduces herself - "I know that, but what's your name" - were removed after studio executives became concerned about certificate ratings. Kitty Galore? It just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? As a teenager, Blackman worked as a messenger for the Home Office, but once the second World War came to an end, she flung herself into the British movie industry, appearing in dozens of B-movies and some rather more notable films, including the 1958 Titanic epic, A Night To Remember.
In the early 1960s, she auditioned for the role of Mrs Catherine Gale, a sleek, smart, assertive female secret agent in the television series, The Avengers. For almost three years, from 1962 to 1964, she played against female stereotype as the leather-clad Gale, arguably the role model for the generation of females born in the 1950s.
"We had Honor in black leather trousers, partly because it was better than wearing skirts when she was in action scenes," said her on-screen partner, Patrick MacNee, who played bowler-hatted Steed in the series. "It was an idea before its time to show women in a positive sense and not in a repressive, submissive way - and I found that exciting and interesting. We used a lot of sexual fetishes, bondage, in a very light way. In other words, we titillated."
Come the release of Goldfinger, in which she played the role of an aviatrix in charge of a team of female pilots - the lesbian subtext of the original Ian Fleming novel was somewhat toned down - Honor was titillating even more by becoming one of the few Bond girls to bed the dashing secret agent and live to tell the tale. In the same year, she asserted her cultural presence and her sense of humour with the single, Kinky Boots. It died a death on its release - probably because parents were tut-tutting all across the land - but in 1990 it became a UK hit, furthering Blackman's credibility among the bright young things.
Yet it would be fair to say that the 1960s was her era in terms of recognition and significance. Between leather trousers, skirts, Pussy Galore, athletic high karate kicks with James Bond, tight kinky boots, lesbian connotations, The Avengers and a cool, glamorous, sensual but no-messing demeanour the envy of women all over Europe, Honor Blackman really was the business.
Tony Clayton-Lea