007 fans will be saddened that French-born actress Claudine Auger who portrayed Bond girl Dominique “Domino” Derval in the 1965 adaptation of Thunderball, passed away in Paris earlier this week according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news of Auger’s death was announced by her talent agency, confirming that she was 78 at the time of her passing.
Born in Paris, France April 26th, 1941, Auger rose to fame as a model by winning the Miss France beauty competition and placing first as a runner-up in the 1958 Miss World pageant. While attending school, Auger made her film debut in the 1960 film Testament of Orpheus after being discovered by director Jean Cocteau, later making subsequent appearances in The Iron Mask and Games of Desire.
Following the success of the aforementioned films, Auger traveled to Nassau in the Bahamas where she had a run-in with producer Kevin McClory, who casted her as a Bond girl in Thunderball. Her character Domino is the mistress of antagonist Emilio Largo who later falls into the arms of Sean Connery’s James Bond, as most women in a Bond movie tend to do. Auger endured some stiff competition from three A-List actresses who were vying for the role, including Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway, and Raquel Welch. She later appeared in other movies like Bay of Blood and The Memoir of Sherlock Holmes.
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