Goldfinger icon and comic star
Margaret Nolan Actress BORN OCTOBER 29, 1943 - DIED OCTOBER 5, 2020, AGED 76
AS THE woman whose goldpainted body was used as a canvas to project the opening credits of the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger, Margaret Nolan was the ultimate sex symbol.
Nolan, who wanted to be taken seriously as an actress, only agreed to appear in the opening sequence if she was given a role in the movie. She ended up playing Dink, a masseuse who gets a friendly spank on the bottom from Sean Connery.
When Nolan was asked to spend two years touring the world as a woman painted in gold to promote the film she refused, saying she wanted to do more “serious stuff”.
She went on to have comic roles in Brian Rix farces and Carry On films but later developed a love for theatre, partly through her husband, the actor and playwright Tom Kempinski, with whom she had two sons, Luke and Oscar.
Somerset- born Nolan’s first television role was in The Saint in 1963, which may have led to a small role in The Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night.
In one of her six Carry On films she memorably had a fight with Barbara Windsor while wearing just a silver bikini.
Although she was annoyed at being cast as a “dumb blonde”, she took the work because the money was fairly good.
Comedian Spike Milligan saw her potential and allowed her to blossom comically in the Q series and The World Of Beachcomber.
Nolan once said of Milligan:
“He was adorable, nutty as a fruitcake. He used to take me to all these wonderful jazz clubs
and we became good friends.” However, she preferred roles in Armchair Theatre, Thirty- Minute Theatre and The Wednesday Play.
She had just emerged from retirement for a small role in the upcoming film Last Night In Soho.
Nolan died of cancer. She is survived by her two sons.