Shirley Jean Eaton (born 12 January 1937) is an English actress, author and singer. Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and gained her highest profile for her iconic appearance as

Bond Girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...

Jill Masterson ''Goldfinger'' is a 1964 spy film and the third instalment in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming ...

in the

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film '' Goldfinger'' (1964), which gained her bombshell status. Eaton also had roles in the early ''Carry On'' films. Preferring to devote herself to bringing up a family, she retired from acting in 1969. Eaton came out of retirement in 1999 to release her autobiography titled ''Golden Girl'', which was a bestseller, and has released three more books throughout the 2000s.

Early life

Eaton was born on 12 January 1937 in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

General Hospital,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and brought up in the suburb of Kingsbury. She attended Roe Green Primary School on Princes Avenue, and although living close to both

Kingsbury County Grammar School Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

and Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School, won a place at the

Aida Foster Theatre School The Aida Foster Theatre School for drama, dance and education was founded by Aida Foster in 1929 as a hobby to teach dancing. It expanded over the years to become one of Britain's foremost stage schools. Many stage and film personalities of the 20t ...

, a specialist drama school, and remained there until she was sixteen. Her stage debut was in

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's '' Let's Make an Opera!'' and her West End debut was in 1954 in ''Going to Town''.

Career

All through the 1950s, Eaton was a singing star, both on the stage and on television, appearing with her own act in variety shows throughout the country and starring at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

in London in her own solo singing act, as well as appearing in many films. Eaton participated in the British heat of the 1957

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. Throughout her career, Eaton appeared with many of the top British male comedy stars of the period, including

Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early lif ...

Max Bygraves Walter William Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012), best known by the stage name Max Bygraves (adopted in honour of Max Miller), was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, s ...

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...

, and

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...

. Eaton's female co-stars included

Peggy Mount Margaret Rose Mount OBE (2 May 1915 – 13 November 2001) was an English actress. As a child, she found acting an escape from an unhappy home life. After playing in amateur productions, she was taken on by a repertory company and spent nine yea ...

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, and

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'' (1956) and ''Date with Disaster'' (1957), in which she co-starred with

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. She appeared in ''

The Belles of St Trinian's ''The Belles of St Trinian's'' is a 1954 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Alastair Sim, Joyce Grenfell, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley. Inspired by British cartoonist Rona ...

'' (1954), two of the "Doctor" film series, three early ''Carry On'' films and worked with the Crazy Gang in '' Life Is a Circus'' (1958). Eaton left comedy roles by appearing opposite

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in '' The Girl Hunters'' (1963) in which Spillane played his own literary creation

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. During the 1962 London shoot she appeared on stage in ''

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''. She made three episodes of ''

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,'' starring

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, including the pilot. She was in a 1962 episode of the British television series '' Man of the World'' that was the pilot for the TV series ''

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''. Her episode was included in a 1963

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of the series entitled ''

Our Man in the Caribbean ''The Sentimental Agent'' is a television drama series spin-off from '' Man of the World.'' It was produced in the United Kingdom in 1963 by Associated Television and distributed by ITC Entertainment. The series ran for 13 one-hour monochrome ...

''. Eaton achieved the most recognition for her performance as Jill Masterson in the 1964

film '' Goldfinger'' (1964). She appeared on the cover of ''

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'' magazine in her gold-painted persona. Her character's death, being painted head to toe in gold paint and suffering "skin suffocation", led to an

urban myth An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

that Eaton had died during filming. She appeared in a 2003 episode of the series ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...

'' to dispel the rumour. After ''Goldfinger,'' Eaton made only a few more films, including a pair of films for

Ivan Tors Ivan Tors (born Iván Törzs; June 12, 1916 – June 4, 1983) was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater sequences, and s ...

, ''

Rhino! ''Rhino!'' is a 1964 American action film directed by Ivan Tors and written by Art Arthur and Arthur Weiss. The film stars Harry Guardino, Shirley Eaton, Robert Culp, Harry Makela and George Korelin. The film was released on May 20, 1964, by Metr ...

'' (1964) and ''

Around the World Under the Sea ''Around the World Under the Sea'' is a 1966 science fiction film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Lloyd Bridges, with Marshall Thompson, Shirley Eaton, Gary Merrill, and David McCallum. It follows the adventures of a crew of the deep-divi ...

'' (1966), a

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version of the

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mystery ''

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'' (1965) co-starring

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and a

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comedy, ''

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'' (1967), plus the title role of

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's Sumuru in Towers' ''

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'' (1967) and '' The Girl from Rio'' (1969), '' Everdream'' (2001) In a 2014 interview, she explained]: "After I finished ''

'' and was coming home in the plane was when I made the decision to quit. I hated being away from my baby Jason and his brother Grant. However, I did enjoy being the wicked lady Sumuru in two rather bad films, which I had not had the chance to be before. I do believe they have become cult films now."

Personal life

Eaton was married to Colin Lenton Rowe from 1957 until his death in 1994. The couple had two children, Grant and Jason. Eaton retired from acting to bring up her family and later commented in a 1999 interview with Steve Swires of '' Starlog (magazine), Starlog'' magazine, "A career is a career, but you're a mother until you die". She repeated this statement in an interview with the journalist James Davies on 18 June 2008, adding, "The most important thing for me was being a woman and having a family more than being a very famous glamorous actress". Eaton published an autobiography in 1999 titled ''Golden Girl''. Her later book (''Golden Girl Shirley Eaton: Her Reflections'') is a picture book of all her film photos from throughout her career and the second book (''Shirley Eaton, Bond's Golden Girl''; her own ART Gallery) is full of her paintings and sculptures made over a lifetime and, more recently, her art and photography. She also has an official website.

In popular culture

The main character in

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

's novel ''What a Carve Up!'' is obsessed with Eaton in her role in the film of the same name.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
Article debunking the "skin suffocation" urban legend
from Snopes.com
James Davies Interview with Shirley Eaton, 18 June 2008.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Shirley 1937 births Living people English film actresses English television actresses Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses Alumni of the Aida Foster Theatre School