On the 50th anniversary of Dr No, the first Bond girl talks to Hammer historian Marcus Hearn about 007, The Revenge of Frankenstein and classic TV roles in The Saint, Danger Man and The Avengers. Plus, you can pick up her new autobiography The First Lady of Bond for signing!

Croydon-born Eunice Gayson is best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond’s girlfriend in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love). An interesting piece of Bond history is that originally Gayson was going to be cast as Miss

Moneypenny, but acting commitments elsewhere meant that the part went to Lois Maxwell instead: “But I had the honour then on the first day’s shoot of the first film Dr. No of asking [Bond] to identify who he was. And of course his reply was ‘The name’s Bond, James Bond’. So I had that lovely scene with Sean that I wouldn’t have had.”

Starting out in rep to gain acting experience, her later theatre work has included a long run as Frau Schrader (The Baroness) in the London production of The Sound Of Music at the Palace Theatre, and she returned to the stage in 1990 to play the part of Little Red Hood’s grandmother in a production of the musical Into The Woods at the Phoenix Theatre, London.

This is a Cine Sisters event, run in association with the Cinema & Television History (CATH) Research Centre at De Montfort University.

Doors open at 18.30 for a 19.30 start, and the event is expected to end at 22.30. Refreshments will be available.

Tickets & Pricing

Autumn Season 2012 ticketing applies. Advance tickets may be purchased from WeGotTickets.