Margaret Nolan, Goldfinger Model and Actress in A Hard Days Night, Dies at 76

Posted by Larita Shotwell on Thursday, March 28, 2024

Margaret Nolan, an actress and artist known as the gold-painted model in the title sequence for the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger,” died Oct. 5, her son, Oscar Deeks, confirmed to Variety. She was 76.

Director Edgar Wright first announced the news of Nolan’s death on Twitter. In a touching tribute, Wright wrote: “She was the middle of Venn diagram of everything cool in the 60’s; having appeared with the Beatles, been beyond iconic in Bond and been part of the ‘Carry On’ cast too.”

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/1315406123738988549

Nolan was born on Oct. 29, 1943 in Somerset, England and grew up in London. She began her career in the arts as a glamour model, going by the name Vicky Kennedy in the early ’60s, but switched back to her birth name once she began acting. She appeared in The Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night” in July of 1964, and played Dink, Bond’s masseuse, in “Goldfinger” the same year.

Though her small acting role in “Goldfinger” was memorable, Nolan notably appeared in the “Goldfinger” title sequence, posters, records and books, painted gold from head to toe and sporting a gold bikini. Shirley Eaton played the gold-painted Bond girl in the Sean Connery film.

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She turned down the chance to travel the world for two years as the Goldfinger model in order to pursue her acting career.

The “Goldfinger” campaign led to a photoshoot with Playboy magazine as well as roles in Gerry and the Pacemakers’ film “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and Marcel Carné’s “Three Rooms in Manhattan” in 1965.

She also appeared onstage doing fringe theater and political drama with her ex-husband, actor Tom Kempinski.

That same year, Nolan was cast as Miss Jones in “Carry On Cowboy,” her first appearance in the “Carry On” franchise. She would go on to portray a “Buxom Lass” in “Carry on Henry VIII” and Popsy in “Carry On at Your Convenience” in 1971, as well as “Carry On Matron” in 1972. She starred in 1973’s “Carry On Girls” as Dawn Brakes, and 1974’s “Carry On Dick” as Lady Daley. She also made several appearances on Spike Milligan’s “Q” series and appeared in TV shows including “Steptoe and Son.”

Nolan took a break from acting after the mid-’80s, returning only in 2011 as Dame Margaret in Yvonne Deutschman’s “The Power of Three.” She moved to Spain to focus on permaculture, and then turned her attention to creating photo montages, often using manipulated photos of her vintage photos, that were exhibited in galleries throughout London. “That’s why I made some of them quite grotesque, really…the idea that I was there as this passive woman, being looked at, but behind it all, behind my eyes, of course I knew what was going on,” she told the Den of Geek in 2007.

In 2019, Wright cast her in a small role in his upcoming film “Last Night in Soho.”

Nolan is survived by her two sons, Oscar Deeks, a cinematographer, and Luke O’Sullivan and two grandchildren.

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