Actress Claudine Auger, Bond Girl in Thunderball, dies at 78

Actress Claudine Auger, famous for her role in the1965 James Bond film Thunderball as Dominique "Domino" Derva, has died at the age of 78.

Entertainment Weekly reports Auger died in Paris on Thursday. Auger had the distinction of becoming the first Bond Girl from France. The model-turned-actress starred opposite iconic actor Sean Connery in the fourth installment of the Bond franchise. 

Thunderball finds Bond traveling to the Bahamas to recover warheads from the evil Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) where he faces attacks on and off land from both men and sharks alike. Thankfully, Bond is able to convince Domino (Claudine Auger) to help him save the day, as only Agent 007 can do. The film features an absolutely epic underwater action scene. Auger performed all of her stunts in Thunderball, which featured a significant number of underwater scenes. Her role as Domino is truly one for the books. She and Connery have obvious chemistry, as seen in the clip below which features the iconic scene of Connery sucking poison from Auger's foot.

Auger also beat out legendary Hollywood actress' Rachel Welch and Faye Dunaway for the role. The film is based on the ninth novel in the series by writer Ian Fleming. 

Born in Paris as Claudine Oger, she started her career as a model and represented France in the 1958 Miss World competition, where she was a runner up. In the1960s, Auger took up acting where she appeared on stage and in films such as The Testament of Orpheus. The actress would continue to have roles in British and Italian TV series throughout her life. 

via AFP, Entertainment Weekly