glen campbell blog: Shirley Eaton Golden Girl

The lovely Shirley Eaton was born on 12 /01/37 in Edgware. Throughout her career, she appeared with many of the top British male comedy stars from the period including Jimmy Edwards, Max Bygraves, Bob Monkhouse and Arthur Askey. Her female co-stars included Peggy Mount, Thora Hird and Dora Bryan among others. Her early roles include Three Men In A Boat (1956) and Date with Disaster (1957), in which she co-starred with Tom Drake. She also worked with The Crazy Gang in Life Is a Circus (1958) and with Mickey Spillane in The Girl Hunters (1963) in which Spillane played his own literary creation Mike Hammer.

She appeared in several early Carry On films., and rarely appeared on television; an exception was her appearances in three episodes of The Saint, starring Roger Moore.

Although not known as a singer, Eaton took part in the British heat of the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest.

Eaton’s most recognised and iconic role was as Jill Masterson in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, gaining more recognition than actress Honor Blackman who played leading Bond Girl Pussy Galore. She appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in her gold-painted persona. After Goldfinger, Eaton made only a few more films, including The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1969), before her retirement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1qFEjQJ6Jk

Eaton retired from acting to raise her family and later commented in an interview with journalist James Davies on 18 June 2008, "The most important thing for me was being a woman and having a family more than being a very famous glamorous actress."