Ursula Andress

Born on March 19, 1936 in Bern (Switzerland), Ursula Andress was the daughter of Anna, a Swiss woman, and Rolf Andress, a German diplomat who disappeared during World War II.

When Ursula Andress decided to make her way in the cinema, she traveled to Italy, where she took several castings and was chosen by the director Steno for a small role in An American in Rome , starring Alberto Sordi . The same director would later give him another role in Le avventure di Giacomo Casanova .

Later she went to Hollywood determined to succeed, and although film roles eluded her, she fell in love with actor John Derek, whom she married in 1957. “The wedding was a nightmare. We got married in a small chapel in Las Vegas, with a taxi driver as a witness, and a ring that didn’t fit my ring finger,” he recalls. Along with Derek, she was retired from celluloid for a few years, until in 1962 she was signed for her most remembered role, Honey Ryder, the girl in the white bikini from Agent 007 against Doctor No , with which she triumphed in all the world.

Especially because of the beach scene, Ursula Andress became so popular that the roles began to rain on her. Following the James Bond film she was paired with the legendary king of rock, Elvis Presley , in The Acapulco Idol . With the famous Rat Pack made up of Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin and cronies, she shot Four Guys from Texas , where she was a beautiful woman willing to set up a floating casino.

Together with John Derek he shot A Nightmare in the Sun and Once Before I Die , which was directed by him. She was also involved in What’s up, Pussycat? which included, among other actors , Peter Sellers and Woody Allen , who reprized alongside her in Casino Royale , a parody of the James Bond movies like the one that had launched her to stardom.

In that last tape was the Frenchman Jean Paul Belmondo, along with whom he had also starred in the entertaining The Tribulations of a Chinese in China , an adaptation of the novel by Jules Verne , with many elements of humor. During filming, she began an affair with the actor, which caused her husband, John Derek, to divorce her, while Belmondo did the same with Elodie, her wife.

The couple settled on a farm next to the Marne River, relatively close to Paris. And although the relationship lasted seven years, Andress ended up exhausted by the excess of attention that he demanded of her. “He practically devoured me. I shouldn’t have existed except for him. At first I liked the thing. I spent the day cooking for him and I turned out to be a very expert cook. But there comes a day when one remembers that the world exists,” he commented. the actress.

Although Ursula Andress did not remarry, she had loud affairs with Sean Connery , Fabio Testi , Ryan O’Neal , Peter O’Toole , Warren Beatty , and Dean Martin. In the 70s, although she used to be dismissed by critics, she made various films, such as The Spy Strips Naked , Let’s Get Naked Shamelessly , Safari Express , Adventures and Love of Scaramouche , The Mountain of the Cannibal God or The Fifth Musketeer . During the filming of Clash of the Titans (1981) , she fell in love with actor Harry Hamlin ., with whom she gave birth to her only son. Despite everything, she soon separated from him, and joined Lorenzo Rispoli.

In the late 1980s, he played a character on the series Falcon Crest . Since then he has only appeared in telefilms and productions of limited interest.