Claudine Auger Biography

Claudine Auger (born Claudine Oger; 26 April 1941) is a French actress best known for her role as Bond girl Dominique "Domino" Derval in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). She earned the title of Miss France Monde and was also the first runner-up in the 1958 Miss World contest.

Early life

Auger was born in Paris, France. She attended St. Joan of Arc College and later the Conservatoire de Paris, where she performed dramatic roles. She made her film debut when she was still in school.

Career

Jean Cocteau cast Auger in an uncredited role as a tall ballerina in Testament of Orpheus (1960). When she was 18, she married the 43-year-old writer-director Pierre Gaspard-Huit, and he cast her in several films, including Le Masque de fer (1962) and Kali Yug: Goddess of Vengeance (1963).

When she was on holiday in Nassau, writer-producer Kevin McClory saw her and recommended that she audition for his film Thunderball (1965). The role of Domino was originally to be an Italian woman, Dominetta Petacchi. Auger impressed the producers so much that they rewrote the part to that of a French woman, to better suit Auger. Although she took lessons to perfect her English, her voice was eventually dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl. Auger would claim that she related to her character Domino, as she and Domino were involved with older men. The most immediate byproduct of Claudine's stardom was a semi-nude Playboy spread.

Thunderball launched Auger into a successful European movie career, but did little for her otherwise in the United States. She did however star in a Danny Thomas Special called "?The Road to Lebanon"? with Bing Crosby which was shown on NBC on 20 April 1966.

In 1968, she co-starred with another Bond girl, Ursula Andress, in the Italian comedy Anyone Can Play. In 1971, she starred with two future Bond girls, Barbara Bach and Barbara Bouchet, in Black Belly of the Tarantula, a giallo mystery. She had some roles in European films such as Triple Cross (1966) (reuniting her with her James Bond director Terence Young), and The Killing Game (1967).

In 1994, Auger appeared in the British television series The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, in "The Three Gables" as Isadora Klein, in one of the last episodes of that series starring Jeremy Brett.

Personal life

In 1959, at age 18 she married writer-director Pierre Gaspard-Huit. They would later divorce.

She married British businessman Peter Brent in the 1980s. The couple had one child, Jessica Claudine Brent (b. 1991). Brent died in August 2008.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director
1958	Christine	uncredited	Pierre Gaspard-Huit
1960	Testament of Orpheus	Minerva	Jean Cocteau
	Terrain vague	the salesgirl	Marcel Carn
1961	Les Moutons de Panurge	uncredited	Jean Girault
	The Seven Deadly Sins (episode L'Envie)	the new waitress	Edouard Molinaro
1962	Le Masque de fer	Isabelle de Saint-Marc	Henri Decoin
1963	In the French Style	Clio Andropolous	Robert Parrish
1964	'	Elektra Tzanou	Hans Albin, Peter Berneis
1965	Yo Yo	Isolina	Pierre taix
	Thunderball	Dominique Derval ("Domino")	Terence Young
1966	That Man George	Lila	Jacques Deray
	Treasure of San Gennaro	Concettina	Dino Risi
	Triple Cross	Paulette	Terence Young
	The Devil in Love	Maddalena de' Medici	Ettore Scola
1967	Jeu de massacre	Jacqueline Meyrand	Alain Jessua
	The Head of the Family	Adriana	Nanni Loy
1968	Escalation	Carla Maria Manini	Roberto Faenza
	'	Mirjana	Alexandre Astruc and Stjepan Cikes
	Listen, Let's Make Love	Ida Bernasconi	Vittorio Caprioli
	The Cats	Barbara	Duccio Tessari
1969	'	Marina	Mario Caiano
1971	Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide	Nathalie Silvener	Jacques Deray
	Twitch of the Death Nerve	Renata Donati	Mario Bava
1972	Ricatto alla mala	..	Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi
1975	Flic Story	Catherine	Jacques Deray
	L'Intrpide	Sophie	Jean Girault
1977	Pane, burro e marmellata	Betty	Giorgio Capitani
1978	Butterfly on the Shoulder	The coat's Woman	Jacques Deray
	The Bermuda Triangle	Sybill	Ren Cardona Jr.
1979	Lobster for Breakfast	Carla Spinosi	Giorgio Capitani
	Lovers and Liars	Elisa Massacesi	Mario Monicelli
	Fantastica	Johanna MacPherson	Gilles Carle
1981	Black Jack (aka Asalto al casino)	Jill Stradford	Max H. Boulois
1984	Secret Places	Sophie Meister	Zelda Barron
1986	Exploits of a Young Don Juan	the mother	Gianfranco Mingozzi
1988	Il frullo del passero	Dino's widow	Gianfranco Mingozzi
1992	Salt on Our Skin	Mrs. McEwan	Andrew Birkin
1995	Los hombres siempre mienten	Isabelle	Antonio del Real