Art & Hue

Black Women of Bond

For British Black History Month, Art & Hue celebrates groundbreaking women with stylish illustrated pop art prints to mark 55 years since the first Black actress in a Bond film.

55 years ago, the first Black actress appeared in a Bond film, the trailblazer of a select group of groundbreaking women who featured in one of the largest and most successful British film franchises.

In the 1969 film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” starring George Lazenby & Diana Rigg, Sylvana Henriques was one of Blofeld’s “girls” alongside Joanna Lumley, Jenny Hanley, Anouska Hempel & Julie Ege.

Whilst it was a non-speaking role, Sylvana‘s inclusion was an important step in representation given the impact the Bond films had, and still have, with audiences globally.

The following film “Diamonds are Forever” saw Trina Parks as the first Black actress with a speaking role in a Bond film. Not just a speaking role but also a high-kicking one, Thumper personifies strength, sassiness, and beauty in her fun fight scene with Sean Connery.

For Roger Moore‘s first film, the producers translated the Blaxploitation genre into the Bond universe, casting Gloria Hendry as CIA agent Rosie Carver. As the first Black actress to portray one of Bond’s love-interests in the film, the world got to see another step forward in representation.

Roger Moore’s final Bond film saw Grace Jones take control in “A View to a Kill”. A powerful screen presence, May Day’s beauty and fierceness was a stand-out character in the film and in Bond history.

Naomie Harris is the first British Black actress to appear with Bond, and sets the record for the most Bond-film credits by a Black actress appearing as Eve Moneypenny in the final three Daniel Craig films.

As Naomie herself said in 2015 at an event to celebrate Black Women of Bond, “there were not many representations of Black female beauty, I really have to thank Bond and the franchise for being forward thinking, and for being one of very few franchises at that time that actually presented Black women.”

The final Daniel Craig film “No Time to Die” saw Lashana Lynch take on the role of a British secret agent who is assigned Bond’s legendary code number. Very much an equal to Bond, yet still learning the ropes perhaps, competitiveness gives way to collaboration and mutual respect as they work together to defeat the enemy.

Lynch’s assured performance embodies the progress Black actresses have made through the years, not just in the film franchise but also societal – it’s quite feasible that Nomi could headline her own spy film set in 00-branch.

There have been other Black women in the Bond films, including fashion model Nicaise Jean-Louis as one of Drax’s ark-passengers in “Moonraker”, Berry in “Die Another Day”, and Miss Jamaica 1961 in the very first Bond film “Dr. No”. Not an actress (“Dr. No” is her only film credit), Marguerite LeWars caught the eye of the production team at the airport in Jamaica which led to the pageant winner’s casting.

No discussion of Black women’s contributions to Bond would be complete without mentioning Dame Shirley Bassey who holds the distinction of singing more than one Bond theme (three in fact: “Goldfinger”, “Diamonds are Forever” & “Moonraker”). Her unique voice with John Barry’s orchestrations defined the sound of Bond.

Exclusively by Art & Hue, the Black Women of Bond print collection of pop art illustrations is printed to order on 310gsm museum-quality archival card, made from 100% cotton, with fine-art pigment inks.

Celebrating 55 years of female Black icons in Bond, the collection is available in three sizes & 20 colour options.