Eunice Gayson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eunice Elizabeth Sargaison (17 March 1928 – 8 June 2018), known professionally as Eunice Gayson, was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench,
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
's love interest in the first two Bond films ('' Dr. No'' and '' From Russia with Love'') and is thus considered to have been the first " Bond girl". Appearing in this capacity in two movies, she was unique in this regard until Lea Seydoux (as
Madeleine Swann Madeleine Swann is a Bond girl, character in the James Bond films ''Spectre (2015 film), Spectre'' (2015) and ''No Time to Die'' (2021), played by actress Léa Seydoux. She is one of only two Bond girls to appear in two films and first in the film ...
) in '' Spectre'' and '' No Time to Die'' nearly 60 years later.


Early life

Gayson and her twin sister Patricia were born in 1928 in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
to John and Maria Sargaison (née Gammon). Her father was a civil servant. The family lived in Streatham, London and moved to Purley,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
and later
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, before settling in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. There she attended the Edinburgh Academy and studied operatic singing.


Career

Gayson played a major role in the Hammer horror film ''
The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn, Oscar Quitak, Eunice Gayson and Michael Ripper. Made by H ...
'' and appeared on television in series such as '' The Saint'' (which starred a future
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
, Roger Moore) and '' The Avengers''. She played the Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the 1962 London stage production of ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'', during which time she also filmed scenes for the first two Bond films, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and '' From Russia with Love'' (1963). She remained a regular in London theatre, appearing in, among other productions, the comedy '' The Grass Is Greener'' (1971). In the early 1990s, Gayson appeared in
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
's ''
Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
'' in the role of the grandmother.


Bond films

In the first two James Bond films, ''Dr. No'' and ''From Russia with Love'', Gayson played James Bond's love interest in London, Sylvia Trench. In early scenes, Bond attempts to set up a liaison with her but gets called away on a mission before anything serious can develop. This was intended to be a running motif in multiple films, but the character was dropped after the second film. The character is responsible for Bond's iconic introductory catchphrase, "Bond, James Bond"; when Trench introduces herself to Bond as "Trench, Sylvia Trench" during a game of chemin de fer in ''Dr. No'', Bond replies in kind, mimicking Trench's own cadence, after she inquires of him "Mister..?" Gayson had initially been cast in ''Dr. No'' as
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
, M's secretary, while the actress who played Moneypenny,
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...
, had been cast as Sylvia Trench. However, Maxwell found the Trench character too immodest, and their roles were switched. Gayson is therefore considered the first " Bond girl."


Personal life

Gayson married the writer Leigh Vance in 1953, a marriage that was featured on the American daytime television series '' Bride and Groom''. They divorced in 1959, and in 1968 she married the film and stage actor Brian Jackson. She and Jackson had a daughter before divorcing after ten years of marriage. Their daughter Kate later appeared in the casino scene in the 1995 Bond film ''
GoldenEye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond (lit ...
''. Gayson died on 8 June 2018, aged 90.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links


Eunice Gayson
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gayson, Eunice 1928 births 2018 deaths English film actresses English television actresses Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth Actors from the London Borough of Croydon Actresses from Glasgow Actresses from Edinburgh People from Purley, London People from Streatham People educated at Edinburgh Academy