Madeline Smith

Smith was born in Hartfield, Sussex. Her father owned an antiques shop and painting restoration business near Kew Gardens, and her Swiss mother was a translator. After a convent-school education, in her late teens she had a temporary job at Biba, the famous boutique located on Kensington High Street, London. It was at the instigation of Barbara Hulanicki, founder of Biba, that she became a model. In the late 1960s and early \'70s, she was regularly featured in the work of Disc cartoonist J Edward Oliver, who on one occasion devoted an entire strip to her entitled \'The Life and Habits of the Madeline Smith\'.\n', 'Smith first worked for Hammer Film Productions in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969), billed as \'Maddy Smith\' and playing an East End prostitute. Among her other film appearances, she played opposite Ava Gardner in Tam-Lin, Peter Cushing in The Vampire Lovers and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Diana Dors in The Amazing Mr Blunden, Frankie Howerd in Up Pompeii and Up the Front, and Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood. In 1973, she played the Bond girl Miss Caruso, in the post-opening titles sequence of Live and Let Die, the first James Bond film starring Roger Moore. She was recommended for the role by Moore himself, having previously appeared with him in an episode of The Persuaders! on TV.\n', 'Her numerous stage credits include working with US director Charles Marowitz on Blue Comedy (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford) and The Snob (at Marowitz\'s Tottenham Court Road venue the Open Space). She also acted opposite Alec Guinness in the original West End production of Alan Bennett\'s Habeas Corpus (playing Felicity Rumpers), supported Frankie Howerd again in the Volpone adaptation The Fly and the Fox (Churchill Theatre, Bromley), played Elma in a Cambridge Theatre Company revival of Frederick Lonsdale\'s Canaries Sometimes Sing, and spent two years playing the female lead in Agatha Christie\'s The Mousetrap at the St Martin\'s Theatre.\n', '