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Honor Blackman
Early life
Blackman was born in Plaistow, Newham, London to a statistician father. She trained as an actress at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, after persuading her father that an appropriate birthday gift would be acting lessons.
Films
Blackman's films include: Quartet and So Long At The Fair with Dirk Bogarde, the 1958 story of the Titanic's sinking A Night To Remember; Life At The Top with Laurence Harvey, The Virgin And The Gypsy, and the Western films Shalako with Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot and Something Big with Dean Martin.
She played the role of Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). She also did an overdub for an actress in the same film providing the voice for the character of Medea. More recently, the actress has had small roles in the films Bridget Jones Diary and Hot Gold.
Bond girl
Blackman remains the second-oldest actress to play a Bond Girl, the oldest being Deborah Kerr in the 1967, non-EON Bond film Casino Royale. She is one of two Bond girls who was older than the actor playing Bond, the other being Diana Rigg in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. (Rigg had earlier replaced Blackman on The Avengers in the role of Emma Peel. As a coincidence, Joanna Lumley, who was to later to appear in the sequel to The Avengers, The New Avengers, appeared in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.)
Bond film supremo Albert R. Broccoli admitted that Blackman had been cast on the back of her success in The Avengers, despite the fact that the American audience had never even seen the programme. Broccoli said, "The Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs. Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination".
Theatre
She spent most of 1987 at the Fortune Theatre. From 2005 to 2006 she toured the country as Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady. Her show Word Of Honor, premiered in October 2006. In April 2007 she took over the role of Fraulein Schneider from Olivier Award-winning actress Sheila Hancock, in Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. She left the show at the end of September 2007.
Television
In a 1965 episode of The Avengers, titled "Too Many Christmas Trees", John Steed received his Christmas cards, one of which was from Cathy. "A card from Mrs Gale!", Steed exclaims in delight. Then, reading the inscription, he says, in a puzzled voice, "Whatever can she be doing at Fort Knox...?". It was an inside joke, as Blackman was filming Goldfinger at the time.
Blackman co-starred with Richard Basehart as a married pair of Shakespearean actors who commit a homicide in the American detective television series Columbo with Peter Falk.
In 1986, she had a role in the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord. From 1990 to 1995 she appeared as Laura West on The Upper Hand. Blackman took a guest role on Midsomer Murders as ex-racing driver Isobel Hewitt in the episode A Talent for Life. She also, in September 2004, briefly joined the Coronation Street cast in a storyline about wife swapping.
In 2007, she participated in the BBC TV project The Verdict, as one of 12 well known figures forming a jury to hear a fictional rape case. The series was designed to explore the jury system. She was sworn in as a juror under the name 'Honor Kaufmann'.
Blackman was featured, alongside Chris Tarrant, in the show Lose A Million.
Singing career
A song she recorded with Patrick Macnee during 1964, "Kinky Boots", was a surprise hit, peaking at #5, in 1990 after it was played incessantly by BBC Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Simon Mayo. After her appearance in Goldfinger, Blackman recorded a full album of songs entitled Everything I've Got. Research to find 'the perfect voice has indicated that Blackman's voice is one of the best.
Personal life
She married twice: Bill Sankey (1946 – 1956) and the British actor Maurice Kaufmann (1963 – 1975), with whom she appeared in the film Fright (1971); they adopted two children, Barnaby and Lottie.
Blackman is a signed supporter of Republic, The Campaign for an Elected Head of State, the UK campaign to replace the monarchy with a republic. She declined a CBE honour in 2002. She has also been a prominent supporter of the Liberal Democrats.
What members say |
Filmography
Honor Blackman - what members say
review by A customer from NEWCASTLE
The film with the midas touch! 22 June 2004
review by A customer from bath
Colin Baker's last series 9 November 2008
review by peterm from Stirling, Scotland
Wonderful DVD set of classic TV 8 March 2010
Honor Blackman - filmography
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Reuniting the Rubins
on DVD
(2011)
Starring: Rhona Mitra, Blake Harrison, Timothy Spall
Director: Yoav Factor
Certificate: 
Lenny Rubins, an up-tight lawyer, puts his dream retirement on hold when his ailing mother emotionally blackmails him into reuniting his estranged children for a Jewish holiday. They may be peas from the same pod, but in Lenny's eyes, his grown up children are certainly not from the same planet: a ..read more »
 
58%
from 7 members
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Bridget Jones's Diary - Blu-ray
(2001)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant
Director: Sharon Maguire
Certificate: 
In the screen adaptation of BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, Helen Fielding's international best-selling phenomenon, documentary filmmaker (and real-life inspiration for the character Shazzer) Sharon Maguire has managed a rare feat - a film as captivating as the novel. Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is a ..read more »
70%
from 823 members
Not currently released
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Bridget Jones's Diary
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant
Director: Sharon Maguire
Certificate:
In the screen adaptation of BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, Helen Fielding's international best-selling phenomenon, documentary filmmaker (and real-life inspiration for the character Shazzer) Sharon Maguire has managed a rare feat - a film as captivating as the novel. Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is a ..read more »
69%
from 47,415 members
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To Walk With Lions
on DVD
(1999)
Starring: Richard Harris, Ian Bannen, John Michie
Director: Carl Schultz
Certificate: 
The continuing story of George Adamson and his battle to save wildlife in Kenya. This time George and Tony, a down-and-out from London, try to put a stop to illegal trading for rhino horn and ivory...
64%
from 275 members
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The Upper Hand - Series 7 - Complete
(1996)
Starring: Joe McGann, Diana Weston, Honor Blackman
Certificate:
When high-flying executive Caroline Wheatley advertised for a live-in home help, Charlie Burrows, a footballer with a career curtailed by injury, was the last person she expected to find applying for the job at her luxurious country home. But Laura, Caroline's alluring, vivacious mother, has always ..read more »
60%
from 5 members
Not available for rental
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The Upper Hand - Series 3 - Complete
(1992)
Starring: Joe McGann, Diana Weston, Honor Blackman
Certificate: 
THE UPPER HAND was the British version of the long-running American sitcom WHO'S THE BOSS? Taking over the Tony Danza role was Joe McGann as former football player Charlie Burrow. On his uppers, Charlie landed a job as housekeeper and 'nanny' for businesswoman and single mum Caroline Wheatley (..read more »
74%
from 7 members
Not available for rental
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The Upper Hand - Series 2 - Complete
(1990)
Starring: Diana Weston, Honor Blackman, Kellie Bright
Certificate:
THE UPPER HAND was the British version of the long-running American sitcom WHO'S THE BOSS? Taking over the Tony Danza role was Joe McGann as former football player Charlie Burrow. On his uppers, Charlie landed a job as housekeeper and 'nanny' for businesswoman and single mom Caroline Wheatley (..read more »
73%
from 10 members
Not available for rental
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Minder - On The Orient Express
(1985)
Starring: Dennis Waterman, Dennis Waterman, George Cole
Director: Francis Megahy
Certificate:
A mix of comedy, action, and drama, MINDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is the first feature-length MINDER adventure. In the film, Terry (Dennis Waterman) and Arthur (George Cole) journey through Europe on the Orient Express and become involved in a tale of gangland revenge, murder, and mayhem.
69%
from 538 members
Not available for rental
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The Cat And The Canary
on DVD
(1979)
Starring: Michael Callan, Honor Blackman, Edward Fox
Director: Radley Metzger
Certificate:
An all-star remake of a horror classic. A grumpy old man declares that his last will and testament not be read until twenty years after of his death, in the vain hope of losing a few of his "unsuitable" heirs along the way. At the long awaited reading, in order to collect their inheritance, the ..read more »
48%
from 227 members
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The Three Musketeers
on DVD
(1973)
Starring: Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain
Director: Richard Lester
Certificate: 
From Director Richard Lester and featuring a stellar cast including Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch and Christopher Lee, The Three Musketeers is a faithful adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel with belly laughs a-plenty and endless swashbuckling.In 17th Century Paris, young, naïve and energetic D’..read more »
69%
from 1,612 member
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Fright
on DVD
(1971)
Starring: Susan George, Ian Bannen, Honor Blackman
Director: Peter Collinson
Certificate: 
When Amanda agreed to babysit for a friend, little did she realise it would begin an endless night of terror. For her neighbour's insane ex-husband has managed to escape from a mental asylum. And tonight is the night he has chosen to come home.....
56%
from 219 members
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The Last Grenade
(1970)
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Alex Cord, Honor Blackman
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Certificate:
Gun for hire Maj. Harry Grigsby is ordered to head to Hong Kong to take out Kip Thompson, who has been causing border incidents with China. But Harry also has a score to settle with Kip, who betrayed Harry and his trrops in the Congo when he defected to the other side.
55%
from 2 members
Currently unavailable
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Shalako
on DVD
(1969)
Starring: Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Certificate:
In late-19th-century New Mexico, a hunting party of decadent European aristocrats wanders onto the reservation of some angry Apaches, and it's up to the mysterious wanderer, Shalako (Sean Connery), to save them from getting slaughtered. The group includes Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore in GOLDFINGER) ..read more »
57%
from 326 members
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Life At The Top
on DVD
(1965)
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Jean Simmons, Honor Blackman
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Certificate:
Laurence Harvey turns in an excellent performance in this sequel to the highly successful Room At The Top which follows the life of a social climber whose self-doubt tarnishes his success. With his marriage to the boss' daughter on the rocks, Harvey finds himself embroiled in an affair with a ..read more »
60%
from 16 members
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Goldfinger - Blu-ray
(1964)
Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Shirley Eaton
Director: Guy Hamilton
Certificate:
In the third James Bond adventure, the dangerously suave spy's objective is to terminate criminal capitalist Auric Goldfinger (and his assistants Pussy Galore and Oddjob) and foil his plan to contaminate Fort Knox's gold with atomic radiation, a strategy that would dramatically increase the value ..read more »
80%
from 964 members
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Goldfinger
on DVD
(1964)
Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Shirley Eaton
Director: Guy Hamilton
Certificate:
Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Sean Connery's Bond would dare to disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon 53 out of the fridge. ..read more »
71%
from 18,268 members
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The Avengers - Series 3
(7 discs)
on DVD
(1963)
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Honor Blackman
Director: Peter Hammond, Bill Bain, Don Leaver
Certificate:
Episodes Comprise:
1. Brief For Murder
2. The Undertakers
3. The Man With 2 Shadows
4: The Nutshell
5: Death of a Batman
6: November Five
7: The Gilded Cage
8: Second Sight
9: The Medicine Men
10: The Grandeur That Was Rome
11: The Golden Fleece
12: Don't Look Behind You
13: Death a La Carte
14: ..read more »
74%
from 85 members
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A Night To Remember - Blu-ray
(1957)
Starring: Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, Michael Goodliffe
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Certificate:
"A Night to Remember" tells the tragic tale of the maiden voyage of the Titanic in a semi-documentary style, through the eyes of the ship's second officer, Herbert Lightoller, whose duties provided him with a unique perspective of the everyday goings-on aboard the huge ocean liner. An excellent ..read more »
76%
from 6 members
Due for release on 12th March 2012
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A Night To Remember
on DVD
(1957)
Starring: Kenneth More, Kenneth More, Honor Blackman
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Certificate:
A Night To Remember / The Making Of A Night To Remember DVD contains the 1958 film--directed by Roy Baker and based on the novel by Walter Lord--and a "making of" documentary about the movie's production. "A Night to Remember" tells the tragic tale of the maiden voyage of the Titanic in a semi-..read more »
73%
from 918 members
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Lola / The Witness
on DVD
(1953)
Starring: Charles Bronson, Susan George, Jack Hawkins
Director: Richard Donner
Certificate:
Features two movies on one DVD. In LOLA, a middle-aged writer falls in love with a 16-year old English nymphet. Boasting a strong performance from Charles Bronson as the writer. In THE WITNESS, a young boy who has witnessed the crime for which his father is being wrongly accused attempts to free ..read more »
40%
from 79 members
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Diana Dors - Icon Collection - Lady Godi...
on DVD
(1951)
Starring: Pauline Stroud, Diana Dors, Michael Craig
Certificate:
Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva - though not in the buff. This leads by way of a suspect beauty competition to the show-business world of London. But it could be a slippery slope for simple home-town Marge.
59%
from 89 members
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Daughter Of Darkness
on DVD
(1948)
Starring: Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, Siobhan McKenna
Director: Lance Comfort
Certificate:
In Ballyconnen, Emmy Baudine (Siobhan McKenna) is a beautiful but disturbed young woman who works for the local priest. When the carnival comes to town, she encounters a handsome young boxer called Dan (Maxwell Reed) and lays his face open with her fingernails when he expects sexual favours from ..read more »
56%
from 31 members
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The Upper Hand - Series 4 - Complete
Starring: Joe McGann, Diana Weston, Honor Blackman
Certificate:
THE UPPER HAND was the British version of the long-running American sitcom WHO'S THE BOSS? Taking over the Tony Danza role was Joe McGann as former football player Charlie Burrow. On his uppers, Charlie landed a job as housekeeper and 'nanny' for businesswoman and single mum Caroline Wheatley (..read more »
80%
from 7 members
Not available for rental
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Impact/Serena
on DVD
Starring: Conrad Phillips, Patrick Holt, Emrys Jones
Director: Peter Maxwell
Certificate:
Impact
Jack Moir (Conrad Phillips of William Tell fame), a newspaper reporter, is framed by 'The Duke' (George Pastell), a Soho racketeer against whom he has written a series of articles. Moir serves a two year sentence and then, with the help of his cell-mate, Charlie (John Rees), he lures 'The ..read more »
56%
from 6 members
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The Upper Hand - Series 6 - Complete
Starring: Joe McGann, Diana Weston, Honor Blackman
Certificate:
THE UPPER HAND was the British version of the long-running American sitcom WHO'S THE BOSS? Taking over the Tony Danza role was Joe McGann as former football player Charlie Burrow. On his uppers, Charlie landed a job as housekeeper and 'nanny' for businesswoman and single mom Caroline Wheatley (..read more »
76%
from 6 members
Not available for rental
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Diana Dors - Icon Collection
(7 discs)
on DVD
Starring: Diana Dors, Michael Craig, Yvonne Mitchell
Certificate:
Features the Diana Dors films YIELD TO THE NIGHT, LADY GODIVA RIDES AGAIN, DIAMOND CITY, A BOY, A GIRL AND A BIKE, AS LONG AS THEY'RE HAPPY, and A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS. Also includes the documentary THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL.
74%
from 97 members
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Honor Blackman facts
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...such classic villains like Auric Goldfinger{Gert Frobe}& Oddjob. this movie has Honor Blackman { Jason And The Argonauts, The Avengers television series}play the love intere...
