PUSSY NO MORE
Honor Blackman has died aged 94. One of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, she was instantly recognisable for a number of roles: Goldfinger, The Avengers, Terror of the Vervoids. OK, maybe not that last one. Without Cathy Gale kicking her way into equal screen time with Patrick Macnee’s Steed in the black and white episodes of The Avengers, there would be no Emma Peel (perish the thought!), no Joanna Lumley and no countless other kick-ass female leads on British TV. Gale’s popularity meant casting Honor Blackman as a Bond Girl was a no brainer. Pussy Galore is still one of the trope codifiers for the Bond series, although as time passes, pop culture remembers the iconography (Honor’s own) and less the dodgy character of a lesbian villain who turns to the good side after being “cured” by some rough sex with Sean Connery. Post Goldfinger, she was a regular on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, appearing in the Ray Harryhausen films, as a murderer on Columbo (he has Alzheimer’s, did you hear?) and even on Coronation Street. A regular on stage as well, Blackman was so addicted to acting that she appeared as Professor Lasky in the Colin Baker era of Doctor Who, despite not liking the show, as she felt it might attract new eyes to other projects she was more into.
A long standing supporter of the Liberal Democrats, she turned down several honours from the Palace, and criticised Sean Connery’s acceptance of a knighthood before buggering off to a tax exile. In the late 2000s, she suffered a serious stroke and wasn’t expected to live. Live? She managed to return to acting, appearing in Casualty and Cockneys v Zombies. Perhaps not the best example of her CV, but as an example of the indomitable spirit of Honor Blackman it was hard to beat.
She was picked by 16 teams, including former winners Deathlist.net, and the wonderfully named duo Soylent Dreams and Trojan Hearse. Crypt O’Crayolas are also on a quarter of their team dead before Easter even happened.
Honor Blackman
22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020
16 teams