Karin Dor

Though she enjoyed a long career on both the German and American screen, Karin Dor remained best known for her appearance as the red-haired assassin Helga Brandt in the 007 film "You Only Live Twice" (1967). Born in Weisbaden, Germany, Dor studied ballet in her youth. She began appearing as a film extra in her teens, making a background appearance in "The Last Waltz" (1953). The role was non-speaking, but Dor nonetheless caught the attention of director Arthur Maria Rabenalt, who recommended her as an actor to fellow director Harald Reinl. Dor and Reinl fell in love as they worked together on "Rosen-Resli" (1954) despite Dor being only 16. She lied on forms to claim she was 18, and the two were soon married. Dor would continue to act successfully in German films, but eventually became an international player as well, making her first English-language appearance in "The Face of Fu Manchu" (1965). She was soon afterward cast in "You Only Live Twice," and later appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "Topaz" (1967). Dor and Reisl divorced in 1968, and she continued to act in the decades to follow, largely returning to the German film industry with roles in movies like the Johann Strauss biopic "Johann Strauss: The King without a Crown" (1987) and 2006's "I am the Other Woman" (2006). Dor passed away in 2017. She was 79.