Daniela Bianchi (born 31 January 1942) is an Italian former actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universo Italia 1960 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1960 where she placed 1st Runner-Up. She is known for the role of

Bond girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O' ...

Tatiana Romanova in the 1963 movie '' From Russia with Love''.

Early life

Bianchi was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to parents from

Sirolo Sirolo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ancona in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. As of 28 February 2009 it had a population of 3,747 inhabitants and an area of . The town is situated near Monte Conero and in medieval times i ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

Central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...

. Bianchi's father was an Italian Army colonel. She studied ballet for eight years, and later worked as a fashion model. Bianchi was first runner-up at the 1960 Miss Universe pageant, where she was also voted Miss Photogenic by the press.

Acting career

Bianchi began appearing in films in 1958, initially as an

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

Richard Chamberlain Daniela Bianchi Raymond Massey Dr Kildare 1964

In 1963, she starred as

Tatiana Romanova, a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

cipher clerk sent to entrap agent 007, James Bond, in the 1963 movie '' From Russia with Love''. Her voice in ''From Russia with Love'' was dubbed by

Barbara Jefford Barbara Mary Jefford, OBE (26 July 1930 – 12 September 2020) was a British actress, best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 ...

owing to Bianchi's heavy accent. Bianchi starred in a number of French and Italian movies after ''From Russia with Love'', the last being '' The Last Chance'' in 1968. One of her later films was '' Operation Kid Brother'' (also known as ''OK Connery'' and ''Operation Double 007''), which was a James Bond spoof filmed in English (though Bianchi was again dubbed) and starring

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

's brother,

Neil Connery Neil Niren Connery (16 December 1938 – 9 May 2021) was a Scottish actor and the younger brother of actor Sean Connery. Early life Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 16 December 1938. The Connery family is of partial Irish origin. His ...

. Her only role in an American production was in the ''

Dr. Kildare Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictur ...

'' three-part story "Rome Will Never Leave You." In 1970, Bianchi retired from acting to marry a

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

n shipping magnate, Alberto Cameli, with whom she has one son (Filippo Cameli). Her husband died in 2018. In 2012, Bianchi appeared in a small role in the documentary film ''We're Nothing Like James Bond''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Daniela 1942 births Living people 20th-century Italian actresses Actresses from Rome Italian beauty pageant winners Italian film actresses Miss Universe 1960 contestants People of Lazian descent