Shirley Eaton

Posted November 16, 201014 yr

Shirley Eaton (born 12 January 1937) is an English actress.

Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and achieved notability for her performance as Bond Girl Jill Masterson in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Preferring to devote herself to raising a family, Eaton retired from acting in 1969.

Life and career

Early life

Eaton was born on 12 January 1937 in Edgware, then in Middlesex although subsequently in London and brought up in the suburb of Harrow Weald. She attended Roe Green Junior School, on Prince's Avenue. Although close to Kingsbury Secondary Modern School, Eaton won a place at the Aida Foster School, a specialist drama school, and remained there until she was sixteen. Her stage debut was in Benjamin Britten's "Let's Make an Opera"" and her West End debut was in 1954 in "Going to Town".

Career

Throughout her career, she appeared with many of the top British male comedy stars from the period including Jimmy Edwards, Max Bygraves, Bob Monkhouse and Arthur Askey. Her female co-stars included Peggy Mount, Thora Hird and Dora Bryan among others. Her early roles include Three Men In A Boat (1956) and Date with Disaster (1957), in which she co-starred with Tom Drake. She also worked with The Crazy Gang in Life Is a Circus (1958) and with Mickey Spillane in The Girl Hunters (1963) in which Spillane played his own literary creation Mike Hammer. She starred in a version of Ten Little Indians (1965) with Fabian, and appeared in several early Carry On films. She rarely appeared on television; an exception was her work in three episodes of The Saint, starring Roger Moore.

Although not known as a singer, Eaton participated in the British heat of the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest.

Eaton achieved most recognition for her performance as Jill Masterson in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, gaining more recognition than actress Honor Blackman who played leading Bond Girl Pussy Galore. She appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in her gold-painted persona. Her character's death, being painted head to toe in gold paint and suffering "skin suffocation" led to an urban myth that Eaton had died during filming. She appeared in a 2003 episode of the series MythBusters to dispel the rumour.

After Goldfinger, Eaton made only a few more films, including The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1969), before her retirement.

Personal life

Eaton was married to Colin Lenton-Rowe from 1957 until his death in 1994. The couple had two children. Eaton retired from acting to raise her family and later commented in a 1999 interview with Steve Swires of Starlog Magazine, "A career is a career, but you're a mother until you die." She repeated this statement in an interview with journalist James Davies on 18 June 2008, adding, "The most important thing for me was being a woman and having a family more than being a very famous glamorous actress."

Eaton published an autobiography in 2000 titled Golden Girl.

Filmography

The Seven Secrets of Sumuru (1969) as Sumuru

The Saint (3 episodes, 1962–1968)

The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) as Black Widow

The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) as Sumuru

Eight on the Lam (1967) as Ellie Barton

The Scorpio Letters (1967) (TV) as Phoebe Stewart

Around the World Under the Sea (1966/I) as Dr. Margaret E. 'Maggie' Hanford

Ten Little Indians (1965) as Ann Clyde

The Naked Brigade (1965) as Diana Forsythe

Goldfinger (1964) as Jill Masterson