Luciana Paluzzi

Italian brunette bombshell Luciana Paluzzi acted in a wide variety of Italian and American films and TV series of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, but she's best-remembered for a supporting part as a resistant Bond girl in "Thunderball." She began acting in the '50s, in largely forgettable American, Italian, and other productions, such as Fritz Lang's late-career curiosity, "Journey to the Lost City," and the Peter Sellers comedy "Man in a Cocked Hat." Her chance for greater exposure in a leading part, on the double-agent spy drama "Five Fingers," was cut short when that series didn't complete its first season. Further one-off TV spots followed, along with the occasional film role, such as the voluptuous threat to Annette Funicello in "Muscle Beach Party." Paluzzi earned international attention soon after that as the red-haired temptress Fiona Volpe, who withstands Sean Connery's Bond charms in "Thunderball." While the exposure brought her more work, she failed to find quality work, instead landing in meager fare such as the Western "Chuka" and the sci-fi/horror flick "The Green Slime."