French actress, Claudine Auger passed away at her home in Paris
The French actress, Claudine Auger passed away at the age of 78 in her home in Paris on Thursday. The actress was well-known to her international for her roles as Bond Girl, Dominique Domino Derval opposite Sean Connery in James Bond’s Thunderball.
The Times Art Agency that managed the actress confirmed the news of her demise on 20th December. However, the cause of death is still unknown.
Auger was Miss France Monde, the French representative in the Miss World pageant in the year 1958, and had earned the spot of first runner-up. Born and brought up in Paris, she began her career with modelling and swiftly moved towards the acting career. She got her first break in France in a small role in Jean Cocteau’s movie, ‘Testament of Orpheus.’ She married the French filmmaker, Pierre Gaspard-Huit, at the age of 18, when he was 43. She was cast by him in several movies including 1958 movie, ‘Christine’ where she starred alongside Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.
Auger got breakthrough when she landed a role of Domino in Thunderball, in which she played the mistress of the arch-villain, Emilio Largo played by Adolfo Celi. Her role was initially crafted for an Italian actress but the filmmakers were so impressed by her acting chops that the role was rewritten to be French.
She continued to act in European films and TV until the mid-1990s. on the personal front, after getting divorced from Pierre Huit, she married UK based businessman, Peter Brent in 1980 who passed away in 2008. She had a child with him.
The official James Bond Twitter page reacted to her demise and posted a tribute for the actress.
It’s with great sadness we have learnt that Claudine Auger, who played Domino Derval in THUNDERBALL (1965), has passed away at the age of 78. Our thoughts are with her family and friends. pic.twitter.com/pnH9rE8F69
— James Bond (@007) December 20, 2019
The badass Dominique Domino will be sheerly missed. May her soul rest in peace.