Ursula Andress

Biography

Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936)is a Swiss actress and former model who has appeared in American, British, and Italian films. Her breakthrough role was as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). She later starred as Vesper Lynd in the 1967 Bond parody Casino Royale. Other credits include Fun in Acapulco (1963), 4 for Texas (1963), She (1965), The 10th Victim (1965), The Blue Max (1966), The Southern Star (1969), Perfect Friday (1970), Red Sun (1971), The Sensuous Nurse (1975), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), The Fifth Musketeer (1979), Clash of the Titans (1981), and Peter the Great (1986). Ursula Andress, the third of six children, was born on 19 March 1936 in Ostermundigen, Canton of Bern, to a Swiss mother, Anna, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat. Her father was expelled from Switzerland for political reasons and her grandfather, a garden designer, became her guardian. She has a brother, Heinz, and four sisters, Erika, Charlotte, Gisela, and Kàtey. Andress went to school in Bern until she was 16 and learned several languages, including English, French, German, and Italian. She studied art in Paris for a year, then went to Rome, where she worked various jobs including being a children's nanny. Andress was at a party when she met a film producer who offered her a screen test for a role in an Italian film. She was successful and was cast in walk-on parts in An American in Rome (1954) (starring Alberto Sordi), Sins of Casanova (1955) (starring later Bond ally Gabriele Ferzetti), and La catena dell'odio (1955). She was seen by a Hollywood executive who persuaded her to try her luck in Hollywood. Andress arrived in Hollywood in late 1955. That spring she was signed to a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures, starting at $287 a week. The contract brought no acting roles, owing to her reluctance to learn English. "I spent most of my time watching old Marlene Dietrich movies", she said. Andress received some publicity for dating James Dean shortly before the actor's death. She bought herself out of her contract and in 1956 signed with Columbia Pictures. She made no films for them either. She stayed in Hollywood when she married John Derek in 1957. In 1959, it was announced she and Derek would star in a film, High Variety, but no film resulted. ... Source: Article "Ursula Andress" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Known For

Honey Ryder

Dr. No

Norma

Le dolci signore

Aphrodite

Clash of the Titans

Rita

What's New Pussycat?

Louise de La Vallière

The Fifth Musketeer

Anna

L'infermiera

Susan Stevenson (archive footage)

Famous T & A

Cristina

Soleil Rouge

Vesper Lynd

Casino Royale

Alexandrine Pinardel

Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine

Erica Kramer

The Southern Star

Ayesha

She

Caroline Meredith

La decima vittima

Maxine Richter

4 for Texas

Susan Stevenson

La montagna del dio cannibale

Marguerita Dauphin

Fun in Acapulco

The Stroller / The Widow

Letti selvaggi

Countess Kaeti von Klugermann

The Blue Max

Lady Britt Dorset

Perfect Friday

Madeleine Cooper

Africa Express

Nora Green

Colpo in canna

Marsha Wilson

Nightmare in the Sun

Josephine De Beauharnais

Le avventure e gli amori di Scaramouche

Miriam

Safari Express

Ursula Andress (uncredited)

Due cuori, una cappella

Marie-Antoinette

Liberté, égalité, choucroute

Alex

Once Before I Die

Mabel Dodge

Красные колокола. Фильм 1. Мексика в огне

Xellesia

Fantaghirò 3

Xellesia

Fantaghirò 4

Betty Starr

Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders

Madonna

Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche

Self (archive footage)

The Incredible World of James Bond

Self (archive footage)

Ares Gate: La fabbrica delle illusioni

Agnes

Klassezämekunft

Michelle Nolton

L'ultima chance

Self

Elio Petri... appunti su un autore

Self (archive footage)

Rat Pack

viaggiatrice in carrozza

Le avventure di Giacomo Casanova

Queen of Chain

Cremaster 5

Self

L'importanza di essere scomodo: Gualtiero Jacopetti

Self (archive footage)

Marcello, una vita dolce

Self

Reporters

Self

Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops

Self (archive footage)

Electric Blue 007

Self (archive footage)

Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond

Self

Party in Rio

Self

James Bond: The First 21 Years

Self (uncredited)

Belmondo par Belmondo

Astrid Sjöström

Un americano a Roma

Marina (segment "La visita")

Spogliamoci così, senza pudor...

Self

Terence Young: Bond Vivant

Self

Inside 'Dr. No'

Self

Harry Saltzman: Showman

Princess Anna Dell'Orso

Doppio delitto

Self

Inside 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Self

Masterpiece or Forgery? The Story of Elmyr De Hory

Self

Almost True: The Noble Art of Forgery

Self

Celebrity Nude Revue: The Saucy 70's Volume 1

Self

Hollywood on Horses

Self (archive footage)

Hollywood-Diven von ihrer erotischen Seite

Self

100 Greatest Sexy Moments

Big Man: Diva

Susan Stevenson (archive footage) (uncredited)

Famous T&A 2

Self (archive footage)

Deneuve, la reine Catherine

Belmondo l'incorrigible