Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is an actress. She was born in Ostermundigen , Berne, Switzerland.
Andress was a major sex symbol of the 1960s. Fluent in English, French, Italian, German and Swiss-German, she appeared as "Honey Ryder", James Bond's object of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first James Bond film.
Her stunning good looks served her well, as her introduction in Dr. No became one of the most famous Bond moments. Rising out of the Caribbean Sea singing a beautiful Calypso and tossing back her blonde hair, she spots Bond. "What are you doing here?" she asks. "Looking for shells?"
"No," replies Bond, admiring her suntanned body barely covered in a white bikini, "I'm just looking." (The combination of sea, shells, and a stunning blonde has led some critics to trace the inspiration for this scene to Botticelli's Birth of Venus).
An homage to this scene was included in the Bond film, Die Another Day. This time around the part of the siren walking out of the water was played by Halle Berry.
Andress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1963 film, Fun in Acapulco and she also appeared in the parody Bond movie Casino Royale (1967) as Vesper Lynd, occasional spy, who persuades Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) to carry out a mission. Her heavy accent was dubbed over by Monica Van Der Syl in Dr. No, but she used her own voice in Casino Royale.
She was married only once, in 1957 to actor/director John Derek. The marriage ended in divorce in 1966. Derek then went on to marry the Andress look-alike, Bo Derek. In 1980 she had a son with actor Harry Hamlin.
In 1995, Ursula Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history."
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