Ursula Andress

Early life

Andress, the third of six children, was born in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, Switzerland to a German couple, Anna, a landscape gardener, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat who was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons. He disappeared during World War II.^[1] She has a brother and four sisters.

She went to school in Berne until she was 16 and became fluent in French, German and Italian. She studied art in Paris for a year, then went to Rome, where she did jobs such as nannying children.^[2]

Italian films

Andress was at a party when she met a producer who offered her a screen test for a role in an Italian film. She was successful and appeared in The Sins of Casanova (1955) (starring later Bond ally Gabriele Ferzetti).^[2]

She followed it with An American in Rome (1954) (starring Alberto Sordi) and La catena dell'odio (1955). She was seen by a Hollywood executive who persuaded her to try her luck in Hollywood.^[3]

Hollywood

Andress arrived in Hollywood in January 1955.^[4] In March she was signed to a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures starting at $287 a week.^[5]

The contract resulted in no acting roles due to her inability to learn English at the time.^[6] "I spent most of my time watching old Marlene Dietrich movies," she said.^[7]

Andress did receive from publicity for dating James Dean shortly before the actor's death.^[8] She bought herself out of her contract.^[9] In March 1956 it was announced she signed to Columbia Pictures.^[10] She made no films for them either, and was Miss World Trade of 1956.^[11]

She stayed in Hollywood because she married John Derek in 1957. In 1959 it was announced she and Derek would star in a film, High Variety, but no movie resulted.^[12]

Dr. No and stardom

Andress returned to screens in 1962 in an episode of Thriller, "La Strega" (1962) with Alejandro Rey.

She soon became internationally famous as Honey Ryder, a shell diver and James Bond's woman of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond movie.^[13] In what became an iconic moment in cinematic and fashion history,^[14][15][16] she rose out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini sporting a large diving knife on her hip. Due to her heavy Swiss-German accent, the character's voice was provided by Nikki van der Zyl,^[17] while the calypso was sung by Diana Coupland.^[18] The scene made Andress a "quintessential" Bond girl.^[19][20] Andress later said that she owed her career to that white bikini: "This bikini made me into a success. As a result of starring in Dr. No as the first Bond girl, I was given the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially independent."^[14][21] The bikini she wore in the film sold at auction in 2001 for £41,125 ($59,755).^[22][23][24] The white web belt she was wearing was donated by sailors from HMS Troubridge, watching on the set when Ms Andress realized something was missing from her outfit. The belt was a part of the full dress uniform of the Royal Navy.^[25] In 2003, in a UK Survey by Channel 4, her entrance in Dr. No was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments".^[26] Andress won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year in 1964 for her appearance in the film.^[27]

Andress followed it playing the female lead in an Elvis Presley musical, Fun in Acapulco (1963). She was billed after Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Anita Ekberg in 4 for Texas (1963); her casting in the latter led the title being changed from Two for Texas.^[28] Both films were widely seen. Less so was a film Andress starred in alongside Derek, Nightmare in the Sun (1965).

In 1965, nude photographs of her from Nightmare in the Sun were published in Playboy; it would be the first of seven times she was pictured in the magazine over the next fifteen years.^[3][29] When asked why she had agreed to do the Playboy shoot, Andress replied coolly, "Because I'm beautiful."^[30][31]

Career peak

Andress was cast in the title role of She (1965) playing an immortal queen, for Hammer Films and Seven Arts Productions, shot in England and Israel. Andress agreed to make it as part of a two-picture deal with Seven Arts. It was a hit at the box office, though Andress elected not to appear in the sequel, The Vengeance of She (1967).

Andress had a support role in the comedy What's New Pussycat? (1965) for producer Charles K. Feldman which was a huge hit. She went to France to play Jean-Paul Belmondo's love interest in Up to His Ears (1965), which was popular in France; she and Belmondo became romantically involved, leading to her and Derek breaking up (although they remained close friends).^[32] Andress moved to Paris to live with Belmondo and it would be her home for the next seven years.^[9]

In Italy, she starred opposite Marcello Mastroianni in the science fiction movie The 10th Victim (1965). She returned to Hollywood to play George Peppard's love interest in the World War One film, The Blue Max (1966), another success at the box office.^[33]

Andress made her second film for Seven Arts: another with Derek, who again starred and directed, Once Before I Die (1966), shot in the Philippines.

More widely seen was the Bond satire Casino Royale (1967), also produced by Feldman, where Andress played Vesper Lynd, an occasional spy who persuades Evelyn Tremble, played by Peter Sellers, to carry out a mission. It was a big box office hit. Her fee was a reported £200,000.^[2]

The actress shows the reasons of her nickname "Ursula Undress" in Loaded Guns (1975)

In Italy she appeared alongside fellow former Bond girl Claudine Auger in Anyone Can Play (1968) for director Luigi Zampa. She then went to Africa to make The Southern Star (1969) with George Segal, which was a hit in England.^[34] She went on to appear nude or semi-nude in nearly all of her film roles between 1969 and 1979, earning her the nickname "Ursula Undress".^[35]

1970s

Andress went to England to appear in Perfect Friday (1970), a heist movie starring Stanley Baker and David Warner.

In Spain she appeared in Red Sun (1971), a Western with an international cast, including Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune and Alain Delon. In a 1972 interview she said "I think my image, especially to Americans, is that of a femme fatale, a man-eating woman. I'm not empty headed or calculating and cool. But maybe my looks give that impression. I'm disciplined in my doings and undisciplined in my emotions. I can't control the things I feel or hide my feelings."^[9]

Andress did some action films, Motel of Fear (1973, Loaded Guns (1974), and Africa Express (1975). She played the title role in The Sensuous Nurse (1975) and did a comedy with another former Bond girl, Barbara Bouchet, Spogliamoci così, senza pudor... (1976).

Andress played Joséphine de Beauharnais in the swashbuckling spoof The Loves and Times of Scaramouche (1976) with Michael Sarrazin. She made a sequel to Africa Express, Safari Express (1976), then did another with Mastroianni, Double Murder (1978).

Andress was in the cult favorite Slave of the Cannibal God (1978) with Stacy Keach, Tigers in Lipstick (1979) for Luigi Zampa, and The Fifth Musketeer (1979), playing Louise de La Vallière.^[36]

1980s

She played Aphrodite in 1981's Clash of the Titans, where she worked with Laurence Olivier. During the making of the film, Andress linked up with leading man Harry Hamlin, who became the father of her child.

In 1982, she portrayed Mabel Dodge in the adventure-drama film Red Bells and guest starred on shows like Manimal and The Love Boat. In France she was in Liberté, égalité, choucroute (1985).

On television, she participated in the 1986 Emmy-winning miniseries Peter the Great, and joined the cast of the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest for a three-episode arc in 1988 as an exotic foreigner who assists David Selby in retrieving Dana Sparks from a white slave ring.

Andress was also in Big Man – The Diva (1988) with Bud Spencer and Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders (1980).

1990s until now

Since the beginning of the 1990s, her acting appearances have been rare. She was in Klassäzämekunft (1990), The Cave of the Golden Rose 3 (1993), The Cave of the Golden Rose 4 (1994) and Cremaster 5 (1995).

In 1995, Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history." Her last role to date was playing "Madonna" in the low-budget 2005 Swiss feature Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche (English title: The Bird Preachers).

She appeared in the documentary Masterpiece or Forgery? The Story of Elmyr De Hory (2008).