How the actress who voiced the Bond girls is being silenced

Nikki van der Zyl, has been the voice of some of the most sultry Bond girls from Ursula Andress to Shirley Eaton, but is banned from events marking 50 years of 007 films as her presence might embarrass some stars. Unknown to millions of James Bond fans, Nikki van der Zyl, was the voice behind the seductive utterances of many of the super-spy’s most glamorous conquests. [caption id=“attachment_465087” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Bond girls are as iconic as 007 himself[/caption] So when Ursula Andress emerged from the sea as Honey Ryder in a white bikini in ‘Dr No’, the first Bond movie in 1962, it was Zyl who spoke her lines, the Daily Mail reported. And when Shirley Eaton played Jill Masterson, murdered by being coated in gold in 1964’s ‘Goldfinger’, it was also Zyl’s voice cinemagoers heard. In fact, ‘revoice’ artist Zyl, 77, has spoken for Bond girls Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in 1963’s ‘From Russia with Love’), Nadja Regin (Bonita in ‘Goldfinger’), Claudine Auger (Domino Derval in 1965’s ‘Thunderball’), Mie Hama (Kissy Suzuki in 1967’s ‘You Only Live Twice’) and Francoise Therry (Chew Mee in 1974’s ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’). She even partly revoiced Jane Seymour (Solitaire in 1973’s ‘Live and Let Die’) and many other smaller roles. She revealed that Andress had “a strong Swiss-German accent” that producers feared would not be understood by US audiences. Of Eaton, she said she realised immediately why she was nicknamed “the Cockney bombshell”. However, despite her contribution, working on all but one Bond film from Dr No in 1962 through to Moonraker in 1979, she had never been given a film credit and receives no royalties. Now she says she has been banned from attending events marking a half century of 007 films because her presence might embarrass Eaton. Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of ‘Dr No’ and a number of events are being held to mark the occasion. But Zyl said she has been barred from the celebrations and has had her name removed from an official Bond website. She claimed the dispute started over an event in London today celebrating ‘Goldfinger’. The organisers of ‘Goldfinger Day’ withdrew an invitation to her, saying that Eaton had “been difficult” about her attending. Then, an official Bond website Bondstars removed her name from its list of contributors, effectively erasing her role in the films. The daily said that a spokesman for Bondstars declined to comment on the issue. PTI