# Honor Blackman

Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962–1964), Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), Julia Daggett in Shalako (1968), and Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). She is also known for her role as Laura West in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1990–1996).

## Early life

Honor Blackman was born on 22 August 1925 at 200 Cumberland Road, Canning Town, West Ham, England, the daughter of Edith Eliza (Stokes) and Frederick Blackman, a civil service statistician. She attended North Ealing Primary School and Ealing County Grammar School for Girls. For her 15th birthday, her parents gave her acting lessons and began her training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1940. While attending the Guildhall School, Blackman worked as a clerical assistant for the Home Office. Following graduation, she was an understudy in the West End play The Guinea Pig. In 1947 she appeared in the Patrick Hastings play The Blind Goddess at the Apollo Theatre.

## Career
### Films

Blackman's film debut was a nonspeaking part in Fame Is the Spur (1947). Her other films include Quartet (1948), based on short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, starring Dirk Bogarde; Diamond City (1949), So Long at the Fair (1950), in which she again appeared with Dirk Bogarde; Green Grow the Rushes (1951), alongside Roger Livesey and Richard Burton; A Night to Remember (1958), an account of the Titanic disaster; the comedy The Square Peg (1958); Life at the Top (1965) with Laurence Harvey; The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), and the Western films Shalako (1968) with Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot, and Something Big (1971) with Dean Martin.
She played Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), which featured stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. She had roles in the films Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Jack Brown and the Curse of the Crown (also 2001).

#### James Bond

During the 1960s, Blackman practised judo at the Budokwai dojo. This helped her prepare for her roles as Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964).
Albert R. Broccoli said Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in the Bond film on the basis of her success in the British television series The Avengers. He knew that most American audiences would not have 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

In 1968, Blackman appeared opposite John Neville and Hylda Baker in the musical play Mr & Mrs, based on the plays of Noël Coward. In the late 1970s, she toured Australia and New Zealand and Canada with Michael Craig and Colleen Clifford in the comedy play Move Over, Mrs Markham. In February 1979, she starred in Stephen Barry's production of Tom Stoppard's Night and Day at the Perth Playhouse, coinciding with Stoppard's presence as a participant in the Festival of Perth.
In 1981, she appeared in a London revival of The Sound of Music opposite Petula Clark. The production opened to rave reviews and the largest advance sale in British theatre history to that time. She spent most of 1987 at the Fortune Theatre starring as the Mother Superior in the West End production of Nunsense.
Blackman returned to the theatre in 2005, touring through 2006 with a production of My Fair Lady, in which she played Mrs. Higgins. She developed a one-woman show, Word of Honor, which premiered in October 2006. From April to September 2007, Blackman took over the role of Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End.

### Television

Blackman started acting on television in the recurring role of Nicole, secretary/assistant to Dan Dailey's character of Tim Collier in the television series The Four Just Men (1959). In a 1960 episode of Danger Man titled "Colonel Rodriguez" she played Joan Bernard. In an episode of The Saint titled "The Arrow of God" (1962), Blackman played an adulterous personal secretary named Pauline Stone, who became one of several suspects in the murder of a despised gossip columnist.
In The Avengers from 1962 to 1964, she played Dr Cathy Gale, a self-assured, quick-witted anthropologist who was skilled in judo and had a passion for leather clothes. Gale was unlike any female character seen before on British TV. Blackman left the series after its third season to co-star in the James Bond film Goldfinger.
In an episode of The Avengers, "Too Many Christmas Trees" (1965), John Steed received a Christmas card from Cathy Gale. Reading the envelope, 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.
In December 1969 and February 1993, Blackman was taken by surprise as the subject of This Is Your Life. In 1972, Blackman (as a special guest star) and Richard Basehart played a married pair of Shakespearean actors who commit murder in the American crime mystery series Columbo (episode "Dagger of the Mind"). In 1983, she appeared in a film production of Agatha Christie's novel, The Secret Adversary, in the role of Rita Vandemeyer, and as Juno/Empress Eugénie in the BBC television production of Orpheus in the Underworld.
In 1986, she had a role in "Terror of the Vervoids", a segment of the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord. From 1990 to 1996, she appeared as Laura West on The Upper Hand. In 2003, Blackman took a guest role on Midsomer Murders, as ex-racing driver Isobel Hewitt in the episode "A Talent for Life". In September 2004, she briefly joined the Coronation Street cast in a storyline about wife swapping. In 2007, she participated in the BBC TV project The Verdict. She was one of 12 well-known figures who made up a jury to hear a fictional rape case. The series was designed to explore the jury system. She was sworn in as a juror as "Honor Kaufmann". In 2013, she guest-starred in the BBC medical drama Casualty and in By Any Means.
Blackman also appeared in a number of episodes of Never the Twain with Donald Sinden and Windsor Davies as veterinarian Veronica Barton.

### Singing career

Blackman's recording with The Avengers co-star Patrick Macnee of "Kinky Boots" (1964), referring to the boots she wore in the show, failed to chart upon its original release, but became a surprise hit in 1990. The song peaked at number five after being played incessantly by BBC Radio 1 breakfast-show presenter Simon Mayo. After her appearance in Goldfinger, Blackman recorded a full album of songs titled Everything I've Got.
In 1968, Blackman released a 45 rpm record of "Before Today"/"I'll Always Be Loving You" (CBS 3896), which were featured in the musical play Mr & Mrs. In 1983, she sang as Juno in a special TV production of Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.
On 6 July 2009, Blackman released a new single, "The Star Who Fell from Grace", composed by Jeff Chegwin and Adrian Munsey. She also compèred the James Bond Prom, part of the "Welsh Proms" concert series in 2009.

### Other roles

Blackman appeared as Anahita in the Doctor Who audio drama The Children of Seth, released in December 2011.

## Personal life

Blackman was married to Walter "Bill" Sankey from 1948 to 1954. After their divorce, she married British actor Maurice Kaufmann (1961–75). They appeared together in the thriller film Fright (1971) and some stage productions. They adopted two children, Lottie (1967) and Barnaby (1968).
After her divorce from Kaufmann, she did not remarry and stated that she preferred being single. She enjoyed watching football.
Blackman owned a summer house in Islesboro, Maine, United States.
Blackman died at her home in Lewes, East Sussex, on 5 April 2020, aged 94, from natural causes.

### Politics

Blackman was a British Republican, a member of the Liberal Democrats and was previously a member of the Liberal Party, campaigning for the party during the 1964 general election. She declined a CBE in 2002, as she felt that as a republican it would be hypocritical to accept the award. She publicly supported changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing members to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.
In 2012, Blackman publicly criticised actor Sean Connery, her Bond co-star in the 1960s, for his status as a tax exile. She said, "I disapprove of him strongly now. Because I don't think you should accept a title from a country and then pay absolutely no tax towards it. He wants it both ways. I don't think his principles are very high."
Following the death of Margaret Thatcher in April 2013, when asked about her thoughts on Thatcher, Blackman responded:
   She's not my idea of Heaven, I have to say. Although she did some good things in her time, she was merciless about the unions. I'm not too happy about the Falklands, either. We lost men, we took injuries and we blew up a ship. I suppose we need it for a base, but my common sense tells me that it does belong more to Argentina than it does to us. Lots of people may throw things at me for saying that about Thatcher, but hopefully not during the performance. She was a powerful figure, but she did damn all for empowering women. She didn't surround herself with any women whatsoever or encourage women to come into politics or do anything in particular. She could have been a quite wonderful role model.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1947 | Fame Is the Spur | Emma | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Daughter of Darkness | Julie Tallent | |
| 1948 | Quartet | Paula | Segment: "The Alien Corn" |
| 1949 | A Boy, a Girl and a Bike | Susie Bates | |
| 1949 | Conspirator | Joyce | |
| 1949 | Diamond City | Mary Hart | |
| 1950 | So Long at the Fair | Rhoda O'Donovan | |
| 1951 | Green Grow the Rushes | Meg Cuffley | |
| 1952 | Come Die My Love | Eva | |
| 1954 | The Rainbow Jacket | Mrs. Tyler | |
| 1954 | Diplomatic Passport | Marcelle | |
| 1955 | The Delavine Affair | Maxine Banner | |
| 1955 | The Glass Cage | Jenny Pelham | |
| 1956 | Breakaway | Paula Grant / Paula Jackson | |
| 1957 | You Pay Your Money | Susie Westlake | |
| 1957 | Suspended Alibi | Lynn Pearson | |
| 1957 | Danger List | Gillian Freeman | Short film |
| 1957 | Account Rendered | Sarah Hayward | |
| 1958 | A Night to Remember | Mrs. Liz Lucas | |
| 1958 | The Square Peg | Lesley Cartland | |
| 1961 | A Matter of WHO | Sister Bryan | |
| 1962 | Serena | Ann Rogers | |
| 1963 | Jason and the Argonauts | Hera | Voice |
| 1964 | Goldfinger | Pussy Galore | |
| 1965 | The Secret of My Success | Baroness Lily von Lukenberg | |
| 1965 | Life at the Top | Norah Hauxley | |
| 1966 | Moment to Moment | Daphne Fields | |
| 1968 | Shalako | Lady Julia Daggett | |
| 1968 | A Twist of Sand | Julie Chambois | |
| 1968 | The Last Roman | Amalaswintha | |
| 1969 | Twinky | Mummy | |
| 1970 | The Last Grenade | Katherine Whiteley | |
| 1970 | The Virgin and the Gypsy | Mrs. Fawcett | |
| 1971 | Fright | Helen Lloyd | |
| 1971 | Something Big | Mary Anna Morgan | |
| 1976 | To the Devil a Daughter | Anna Fountain | |
| 1977 | Age of Innocence | Mrs. Boswell | |
| 1978 | The Cat and the Canary | Susan Sillsby | |
| 1998 | Tale of the Mummy | Captain Shea | |
| 1999 | To Walk with Lions | Joy Adamson | |
| 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Penny Husbands-Bosworth | |
| 2004 | Jack Brown and the Curse of the Crown | Madeline Dubouir | |
| 2004 | Girl Afraid | | Short film |
| 2005 | Colour Me Kubrick | Madam | |
| 2010 | Reuniting the Rubins | Gran Rubin | |
| 2012 | I, Anna | Joan | |
| 2012 | Cockneys vs Zombies | Peggy | |
| 2012 | Money for Old Rope | Doris | Short film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1951 | Joseph Proctor's Money | Ruth Marsh | TV Movie |
| 1953 | Little Red Monkey | Jocelyn Cullum | TV Movie |
| 1954 | The Fifth Season | Lorraine McKay | TV Movie |
| 1954–1958 | The Vise | Paula Hickson / Helen Stone / Syd Lewis / Sally Evans | 4 episodes |
| 1956 | The Infinite Shoeback | Mary | TV Movie |
| 1956 | Flame in the Forest | Christine Gould | TV Movie |
| 1956 | Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents | Kathy | Season 4 Episode 29: "The Way Home" |
| 1956 | The Three Musketeers | Yvonne / Charlotte Brion | 2 episodes |
| 1956–1967 | ITV Play of the Week | Louise Rogers / Liz Essendine | 2 episodes |
| 1957 | Boyd Q.C. | Mary Allen | Season 1 Episode 8: "The Open and Shut Case" |
| 1957 | The New Adventures of Charlie Chan | Elizabeth Vernon | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Patient in Room 21" |
| 1957 | Hour of Mystery | Mary Redox | Season 1 Episode 19: "One Must Die" |
| 1958 | The Invisible Man | Katherine | Season 1 Episode 9: "Blind Justice" |
| 1958 | African Patrol | Pat Murray / Grace Bowler / Isobel Thorne | 3 episodes |
| 1959 | Probation Officer | Iris Cope | 9 episodes (Recurring role) |
| 1959–1960 | The Four Just Men | Nicole | 10 episodes (Recurring role) |
| 1960 | Suspense | Diana | Season 1 Episode 7: "Point of Honour" |
| 1960 | The Third Man | Maureen | Season 2 Episode 18: "The Widow Who Wasn't" |
| 1960 | Danger Man | Joan Bernard | Season 1 Episode 15: "Colonel Rodriguez" |
| 1961 | Knight Errant Limited | Lady Cambroke | Season 3 Episode 24: "King Charles' Head" |
| 1961 | Bootsie and Snudge | Flag Seller | Season 1 Episode 37: "Rally Round the Flag" |
| 1961 | The Pursuers | Sue Brooks | Season 1 Episode 13: "The Frame" |
| 1961 | Top Secret | Rauch / Diana | 2 episodes |
| 1962 | Ghost Squad | Laura | Season 2 Episode 3: "Princess" |
| 1962 | The Saint | Pauline Stone | Season 1 Episode 7: "The Arrow of God" |
| 1962–1964 | The Avengers | Cathy Gale | Series regular (Season 2-3) |
| 1967 | ABC Stage 67 | Jane & Jill Marriott | Season 1 Episode 25: "The Wide Open Door" |
| 1968 | Armchair Theatre | Anne | Season 8 Episode 21: "Recount" |
| 1968 | ITV Playhouse | Lena Hamilton | Season 2 Episode 12: "The Explorer" |
| 1969 | The Name of the Game | Bethany Cromwell | Season 1 Episode 26: "An Agent of the Plaintiff" |
| 1970 | ITV Saturday Night Theatre | Gillian Groome | Season 3 Episode 4: "Visit from a Stranger" |
| 1972 | Boney | Mary Answorth | Season 1 Episode 1: "Boney in Venom House" |
| 1972 | Columbo | Lillian Stanhope | Season 2 Episode 4: "Dagger of the Mind" |
| 1974–1975 | The Lives of Benjamin Franklin | Margaret Stevenson | Miniseries (2 episodes) |
| 1977 | Jubilee | Lady Harriet | Season 1 Episode 6: "Wind of Change" |
| 1977–1978 | Robin's Nest | Marion Nicholls | 2 episodes |
| 1979 | Crown Court | Jean Frazer Allardyce | Season 8 Episode 52: "Heart to Heart: Part 1" |
| 1981–1982 | Never the Twain | Veronica Barton | 5 episodes |
| 1982 | Holding the Fort | Lavinia Cattermole | Season 3 Episode 6: "Otherwise Engaged" |
| 1983 | In Performance | Juno / Empress Eugenie | Episode: "Orpheus in the Underworld" |
| 1983 | Partners in Crime | Rita Vandemeyer | Season 1 Episode 0: "The Secret Adversary" |
| 1984 | Lace | Selma | Miniseries |
| 1984 | The First Olympics: Athens 1896 | Madam Ursula Schumann | Miniseries |
| 1985 | Minder | Helen Spender | Season 6 Episode 7: "Minder on the Orient Express" |
| 1986 | Doctor Who | Professor Lasky | Serial: "Terror of the Vervoids" |
| 1987 | Crossbow | Blonde Noblewoman | Season 1 Episode 9: "The Bet" |
| 1989 | Voice of the Heart | Doris Asterman | TV Movie |
| 1990–1996 | The Upper Hand | Laura West | Series regular |
| 1994 | ABC Weekend Specials | Mrs. Medlock (Voice) | Season 15 Episode 1: "The Secret Garden" |
| 2000 | Doctors | Rachel Knott | Season 1 Episode 33: "A Helping Hand" |
| 2000 | The Sight | Margaret Smith | TV Movie |
| 2001 | The Armando Iannucci Shows | Ivy Diner (Uncredited) | Season 1 Episode 3: "Mortality" |
| 2001 | Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible | Transeet Van Eyre | Season 1 Episode 1: "Lesbian Vampire Lovers of Lust" |
| 2001 | Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story | Jules – Jack's Secretary | Miniseries |
| 2002 | The American Embassy | Mrs. Wellington | Season 1 Episode 5: "Agent Provocateur" |
| 2003 | Midsomer Murders | Isobel Hewitt | Season 6 Episode 1: "A Talent for Life" |
| 2003 | The Royal | Mrs. Lyons | 3 episodes |
| 2004 | Revolver | Sheila | 5 episodes |
| 2004 | Coronation Street | Rula Romanoff | 5 episodes |
| 2005 | New Tricks | Kitty Campbell | Season 2 Episode 4: "Old and Cold" |
| 2005 | Summer Solstice | Countess Lucinda Rhives | TV Movie |
| 2009 | Hotel Babylon | Constance Evergreen | Season 4 Episode 3: "Episode #4.3" |
| 2011 | Doctor Who: The Lost Stories | Anahita | Season 3 Episode 3: "The Children of Seth" |
| 2013 | Casualty | Agatha Kirkpatrick | Season 28 Episode 1: "Bedside Manners" |
| 2013 | By Any Means | Celia Butler | Season 1 Episode 3: "Episode #1.3" |
| 2015 | You, Me & Them | Rose Walker | Season 2 Episode 1: "The Other Mother" |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1946-1947 | The Gleam | Monica Cartwright | The Globe Theatre and Theatre Royal, Brighton |
| 1947-1948 | The Blind Goddess | Mary Dering | Apollo Theatre. Theatre Royal, Brighton, and other locations. |
| 1950-1951 | Desirable Lady | | Theatre Royal, Bath |
| 1954 | The Fifth Season | Lorraine McKay | Lyceum Theatre, Cambridge Theatre and other locations. |
| 1954 | The Moonraker | Anne Beaumont | Theatre Royal, Windsor |
| 1955 | Komuso | Karin Ballentine | Arts Theatre, London |
| 1956 | Someone to Talk To | Isabel Tyson | Duchess Theatre |
| 1966-1968 | Wait Until Dark | Susy Henderson | Strand Theatre, Duchess Theatre and other locations. |
| 1968-1969 | Mr & Mrs | (MR) Doris / (MRS) Laura Jesson | Palace Theatre, London and Palace Theatre, Manchester |
| 1969 | Who Killed Santa Claus? | Barbara | Theatre Royal, Windsor |
| 1970 | Who Killed Santa Claus? | Barbara | Piccadilly Theatre, Grand Theatre and other locations |
| 1972 | Night Watch | Pamela Wheeler | Theatre Royal, York, Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, and other locations. |
| 1973 | Odd Girl Out | | Harlow Playhouse, Wimbledon Theatre, and other locations. |
| 1975 | The Exorcism | Margaret | Comedy Theatre |
| 1976 | Motive | Paula Cramer | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Ashcroft Theatre and other locations. |
| 1977 | The Deep Blue Sea | Hester Collyer | Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal, Bath, and other locations |
| 1978 | The Letter | Leslie Crosbie | Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Royal, Bath, and other locations |
| 1981 | Rose | Rose | Key Theatre, Peterborough, Richmond Theatre, and other locations |
| 1981-1982 | The Sound of Music | Elsa Schraeder | Apollo Victoria Theatre |
| 1984-1985 | On Your Toes | Peggy Porterfield | Palace Theatre |
| 1987-1988 | Nunsense | Sister Mary Regina | Fortune Theatre, London |
| 1989 | The Young Idea | Jennifer Brent | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre |
| 1994 | Dishonorable Ladies | | Criterion Theatre |
| 2000 | Mademoiselle Colombe | Madame Alexandra | Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham and Bridewell Theatre |
| 2006 | The Kingfisher | Evelyn | New Theatre, Cardiff, Cambridge Arts Theatre, and other locations |
| 2006-2008 | Cabaret | Fraulein Schneider (Replacement) | Lyric Theatre |