Claudine Auger: "Miss France" and one of the best James Bond girls

French actress and model Claudine Auger is remembered by most viewers for the spy thriller "Thunderball". She played the girlfriend of agent 007 James Bond and her partner was Sean Connery. It is unlikely that anyone will remember this beauty's roles anymore, and this is not surprising. The peak of her career came during the "Cold War" period and almost all of Auger's films, and there were 79 of them, passed us by.

Claudine Auger was born in Paris on April 26, 1941, at the height of the German occupation. Despite the fact that the capital of France was under enemy control, life there went on as usual: people sat in coffee shops and restaurants, visited cinemas and cabarets, children played in the courtyards and went to school. So the first years of Claudine's life can hardly be called hopeless.

After finishing school, Claudine studied at the Jeanne d'Arc College. Afterwards, the girl entered the prestigious National Higher Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. She was eager to become a real actress and began acting on the stage and in films while still a student. Her film debut took place during her school years, when she appeared in the film "The Testament of Orpheus" (1960) without being listed in the credits.

It must be said that Claudine had an easier time getting good parents than her classmates. At 17, she won the title of "Miss France", and then tried her luck at the "Miss World" contest, where she became vice-Miss. After that, she was immediately invited to the cinema. Auger starred in the melodrama "Christine", though in a small role. But the important thing was that she worked with first-rate stars on the set: Romy Schneider, Alain Delon and Jean-Claude Brialy.

In 1959, the still very young Claudine married the famous director Pierre Gaspard Houy. The marriage with the film director opened the way for her to starring roles in cinema. No, Auger did not become a world-class star, but the actress was known and loved in Europe. Auger began with a series of successful roles in dramatic films and crime thrillers. The films Triple Cross, Yoyo, Basterds, A Little Sun in Cold Water, Police Story, and Bloody Bay enjoyed particular success.

Auger's real fame came after her role as Dominique "Domino" Derval in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965), where her partner was Sean Connery. Initially, her character was Italian, but after Claudine was approved for the role, the character became French. The actress took English lessons for the filming, but she was still dubbed due to her strong accent.

The role in "Bondiana" became the peak of Claudine Auger's career. Franchise experts claim that the Frenchwoman became one of the best girlfriends of agent 007. She became not just the hero's companion, who was in his star shadow. The girl showed herself with excellent acting and looked great. After that, there were many other films, of which only the detective series "Octopus-5" was popular in our country.

In 1995, the actress ended her forty-year career. By that time, she had more than seventy projects in film and television. In France, Claudine Auger was known not only as a film and theater actress, but also as a model. She was often invited to shoot in fashion magazines and advertisements for famous European brands. Some even considered the girl a French style icon of the 60s

Claudine Auger died in 2019 at the age of 78, having outlived her second husband, businessman Peter Brent, by ten years. The couple have a daughter, Jessica Claudine Brent, whom the actress gave birth to against all odds in 1991 at the age of 50. The actress's daughter inherited her striking beauty, but showed no interest in either film or modeling.

Claudine Auger lived a colorful life, full of cinematic victories, fashion triumphs and personal achievements. Despite the fact that her career was successful, her name is not so widely known outside France. Why do you think some actresses, even with just one role, become legends, while others, despite dozens of films, remain only pleasant memories for film connoisseurs?