Actress
and model Margaret Nolan, known for her role in “Goldfinger” and “A Hard Day’s
Night,” died on Oct. 5 at age 76.
Filmmaker
Edgar Wright first reported the news with a touching tribute on Twitter in which
he both announced the news of Nolan’s passing as well as eulogized the late
actress, who he worked with for the upcoming film “Last Night in Soho.”
“It's
my sad duty to report that actress and artist, the magnificent Margaret Nolan
has passed away. She was the middle of Venn diagram of everything cool in the
60s; having appeared with the Beatles, been beyond iconic in Bond and been part
of the Carry On cast too,” he began a lengthy thread.
“She
was the gold painted model in the iconic Goldfinger title sequence and poster
(she also played Dink in the movie), she appeared in the classic A Hard Day's
Night, Carry On Girls, No Sex Please We're British & many others,
frequently sending up her own glamourpuss image,” he added. “She also appeared
in five Spike Milligan Q series, Steptoe & Son, The Likely Lads, Morecambe
& Wise and The Sweeney. She became deeply involved in political theatre and
more recently created visual art; deconstructed her own glamour modelling in a
series of photomontages.”
Wright
concluded his thread about Nolan by talking about his personal experience
working with her.
“I worked with her last year as she plays a
small role in Last Night In Soho. She was so funny, sharp and, as you might
imagine, full of the most amazing stories," he wrote. "I’m so glad I
got to know her. My heart goes out to her family and all that loved her. She
will be much missed.”
The
English actress got her start as a model under the name Vicky Kennedy in the
early 1960s before going back to her birth name as she began to pursue acting,
according to Variety. She got her big break in 1964 when she appeared in both
The Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night” as well as Dink, James Bond’s masseuse,
in “Goldfinger” that same year.
However,
in addition to her small role in the 007 classic, she notably appeared in the
title sequence and subsequent posters and promotional material as the woman
painted from head-to-toe in gold along with a gold bikini.
The
ad campaign made such an impression that she was asked to pose for Playboy
magazine, which also led her to a role in the Gerry and the Pacemakers’ film
“Ferry Cross the Mersey” and Marcel Carne’s “Three Rooms in Manhattan” the
following year.
The
outlet reports that she took a break from acting in the 1980s, returning to the
screen in 2011 as Dame Margaret in Yvonne Deutschman’s “The Power of Three.”
Her later life was marked by photo projects that she worked on while in Spain
that took her old vintage modeling shots and manipulated them for displays in
London. She is survived by her two sons,
Oscar Deeks and Luke O’Sullivan.