EUNICE GAYSON

9 Jun

(17 March 1928 - 8 June 2018)

British actress Eunice Gayson, who has died aged 90, was born Eunice Sargaison in Purley, Surrey. She trained as an opera singer before her screen debut in Between Ourselves, a BBC TV movie in 1948, then appeared in the film My Brother Jonathan with Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray. Continuing on both the small and large screen, she appeared in the films It Happened in Soho, The Huggetts Abroad, Dance Hall, Down Among the Z Men, Miss Robin Hood, Street Corner, Dance Little Lady, Out of the Clouds, Zarak, Carry On Admiral and Hammer’s The Revenge of Frankenstein. She also appeared on stage in The Sound of Music and Into the Woods. In 1962 her career took a turn for the best when she became the first official Bond Girl in Dr No. “I admire your courage, Miss…” says 007 across the gaming table. She replies: “Trench, Sylvia Trench. I admire your luck, Mr…”. He replies: “Bond, James Bond,” thereby starting a new line in catchphrases. She had been up for the part of Moneypenny but it went to Lois Maxwell. After Eunice Gayson repeated the role of Trench in From Russia With Love, it was back to TV until she retired from the screen in 1972. She was married to writer and producer Leigh Vance and to the actor Brian Jackson, with whom she had a daughter, Kate, who in 1995 appeared as ‘casino girl’ in GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan as Bond.

MICHAEL DARVELL

Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

EUNICE GAYSON

LESLIE GRANTHAM

MICHAEL D. FORD