There have been more Bond Girls who died than there have been James Bond movies. Counting 1983's "unofficial" Never Say Never Again, which starred Sean Connery and opposed Roger Moore's Octopussy at the box office, there have been 25 Bond films with number 26, No Time To Die, scheduled for release in November 2020. Through it all, 33 Bond Girls have perished — an astounding body count of 007's lovers, liaisons, and villainesses.
The Bond Girls are arguably the most popular trope of the franchise and have been a major part of every 007 adventure. The first woman to die in a Bond movie was Mary Trueblood (Dolores Keator), who was murdered by the Three Blind Mice to kick of 1962's Dr. No. That inaugural Bond film also introduced Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder, who set the standard of exotic beauty for every subsequent Bond Girl to follow (Honey survived Dr. No). The first Bond villainess to die was Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), a SPECTRE agent who was killed by Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), the Bond Girl of 1963's From Russia With Love. But it was in 1964's Goldfinger that the most iconic Bond Girl death of all happened: Jill Masterson (Tilly Eaton) was unforgettably covered in gold paint and killed by the titular villain of 1964's Goldfinger. Jill's memorable murder was homaged in 2008's Quantum of Solace when MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) died after being covered by crude oil.
James Bond always wins at the end of his movies, but, tragically, he has a habit of failing to save many of his Bond Girls — and this includes the two women who rank as the loves of his life. In 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 007 (George Lazenby) got married, for the first and only time, to Countess Tracy di Vincenzo (Diana Rigg). Their happiness was short-lived however, as moments after their nuptials, Tracy was assassinated by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) and his henchwoman Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat). In Daniel Craig's rebooted James Bond canon, his 007 fell in love with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in 2006's Casino Royale. Sadly, Vesper didn't survive the film either; she was a double agent who was murdered by the evil secret organization called Quantum.
Bond has also personally killed or been responsible for the deaths of many of his enemy Bond Girls. Sean Connery's 007 made sure SPECTRE agent Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) died in 1965's Thunderball while Pierce Brosnan's Bond ruthlessly executed villainesses Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) in 2005's GoldenEye and the devious Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) in 1999's The World Is Not Enough. Roger Moore's Bond literally blew up Naomi (Caroline Munro), a helicopter pilot working for the villainous Kark Stromberg (Curt Jurgens), with a missile fired from his Lotus Esprit submarine car in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. Not to be outdone, Connery also exploded evil SPECTRE agent Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) with his fountain pen's rocket dart in Never Say Never Again.
But the Bond villains also kill their own henchwomen, especially after they've fallen for James Bond's considerable charms. Jill Masterson in Goldfinger was the first example of this, but others have included Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry), a double agent killed by Kananga a.k.a. Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto) in 1973's Live And Let Die, and Andrea Anders (Maude Adams), who was murdered by her lover Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) in 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun after she turned on him and sided with 007. One evil Bond Girl, May Day (Grace Jones), even sacrificed her life to save Bond after she realized her lover, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), betrayed her in 1985's A View To A Kill. In 1971's Diamonds Are Forever, Plenty O'Toole (Lana Wood), was murdered by the bad guys simply for having the misfortune of meeting James Bond in a Las Vegas casino.
Though she would have loathed being called a Bond Girl, M (Judi Dench) also died at the end of 2012's Skyfall, a loss that impacted Craig's James Bond as much as Vesper Lynd's. It remains to be seen if the Bond Girls' unfortunate body count will rise even higher in No Time To Die; the film will not only introduce Nomi (Latasha Lynch) as James' replacement as 007 but Dr. Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) from 2015's Spectre also returns. Time will tell if Nomi and Madeleine live through No Time To Die or if they will join the sea of dead Bond Girls.
