Eunice Gayson

Eunice Gayson (17 March 1928 – 8 June 2018) was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's love interest in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love), and she is considered the first ever Bond girl.

Spouses

Leigh Vance (m. 1953; div. 1959)
Brian Jackson (m. 1968; div. 1977)

Early life

Gayson was born on 17 March 1928 in Streatham, south London, to John Sargaison, a civil servant, and Maria (née Gammon). The family moved to Purley, Surrey, and later Glasgow, before settling in Edinburgh. There she attended the Edinburgh Academy and studied operatic singing.

Career

Gayson played a major role in the Hammer horror film The Revenge of Frankenstein and appeared on television in series such as The Saint, which starred the future James Bond, Roger Moore, and The Avengers. She played the Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the 1962 London production of The Sound of Music, during which she filmed her scenes for the first two James Bond films. She remained a regular in London theatre. Among other productions, she appeared in the comedy The Grass Is Greener in 1971 and, in the early ’90s, in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods as the grandmother.

Role in James Bond films

James Bond: I admire your courage, Miss ...?

Sylvia Trench: Trench. Sylvia Trench. I admire your luck, Mr. ...?

James Bond: Bond. James Bond.

From screenplay by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather, Dr. No

In the first two James Bond films—Dr. Noand From Russia with Love—Gayson played James Bond's love interest in London, Sylvia Trench. In early scenes, Bond attempts to set up a liaison with her, but gets called away on a mission before anything serious can develop. This was intended to be a running motif in multiple films, but the character was dropped after the second film. The character is responsible for Bond's iconic introductory catchphrase; when Trench introduces herself to Bond as "Trench, Sylvia Trench" during a game of Baccarat in Dr. No, Bond replies in kind, mimicking Trench's own cadence.

Gayson had initially been cast in Dr. No as Miss Moneypenny, the secretary of Bond's boss, who often flirted with Bond, while the actress who played Moneypenny, Lois Maxwell, had been cast as Trench. However, Maxwell found the Trench character too immodest and their roles were switched. Gayson's voice was overdubbed by voice actress Nikki van der Zyl, who also dubbed most of the other female characters' voices in both films. Gayson is considered the first Bond girl.

Personal life and death

Gayson married the writer Leigh Vance in 1953, a marriage which featured as part of the television show Bride and Groom. They divorced in 1959, and in 1968 she married the film and stage actor Brian Jackson. She and Jackson had a daughter before getting a divorce after a decade of marriage. Their daughter Kate would later appear in the casino scene in the 1995 Bond film Golden Eye.

Gayson died on 8 June 2018, aged 90.