Former Bond girl Gloria Hendry was pictured on a rare outing on Tuesday, over 50 years after starring in Live and Let Die opposite Roger Moore. The 77-year-old actress, who became 007's first African American love interest in 1973, stepped out to run errands near her Las Vegas home.
The model-turned-actress opted for a casual look, wearing a brown and black top with black leggings and comfortable slip-on shoes. She accessorized with a brown leather shoulder bag and styled her short brunette hair straight, parted neatly to one side. At one point the Florida native flashed a smile while enjoying the sunny day out.
Hendry played Rosie Carver in the 1973 Bond movie and later appeared in a string of films and TV shows. In 2023, she was seen running errands in Beverly Hills, looking trendy in a red and yellow leather jacket, leggings, multi-colored shoes, and stylish shades. The star has kept a relatively low profile in Hollywood since starring in Bond.
Steamy Scenes and Controversy
Her character famously gets shot and killed in Bond's arms. Her steamy scenes with Moore catapulted her into the spotlight, and the Ian Fleming classic featured a soundtrack written by Paul McCartney. In his memoir, Moore described how the passion between himself and Hendry was a sore point for his wife Luisa Mattioli at the time. He wrote, 'As Bond, I make love to Rosie Carver, played by the beautiful black actress Gloria Hendry, and my wife Luisa has learned from certain Louisiana ladies that if there is a scene like that they won't go to see the picture. I personally don't give a damn, and it makes me all the more determined to play the scene.'
Moore and Hendry's love scene was cut from the film when it was shown in apartheid South Africa, where interracial relationships were outlawed.
Honored as a Trailblazer
In 2015, Hendry and other former black Bond girls were honored at the African American Film Critics Association's Black Women of Bond tribute. Recalling her days as a Bond girl, she told Ebony Magazine, 'I had a penthouse hotel room in London at the Pinewood Studios. I was treated like I thought I starred in the movie, [as if] I played Bond! They made all my clothes. It was awesome!'
Trina Parks was the first black actress cast as a Bond girl, starring as Thumper in Diamonds Are Forever opposite Sean Connery in 1971. Parks didn't play a romantic partner to Connery's Bond but was a feisty nemesis. Hendry made history as the first African American Bond girl to be romantically involved with the British secret agent. Grace Jones played Bond's sexy henchwoman May Day in 1985's A View to Kill opposite Moore. When Halle Berry was cast as Jinx in 2002's Die Another Day opposite Pierce Brosnan, she was the first black Bond girl in 17 years. In 2012, Naomie Harris starred opposite Daniel Craig in Skyfall and 2015's Spectre.
Early Career and Other Roles
Before her film career, Hendry worked as a Playboy Bunny at the New York Playboy Club from 1965 until 1972. In 1968, she scored her first acting role in Sidney Poitier's film For Love of Ivy. Hendry also starred as Helen Bradley in the 1973 film Black Caesar and its sequel Hell Up in Harlem. She has also appeared in Black Belt Jones (1974), Savage Sisters (1974), the horror film Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994), and the action comedy Freaky Deaky (2012).
