Luciana Paluzzi

Luciana Paluzzi (born June 10, 1937 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian actress. She is best known for playing SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe in the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.

Career

Paluzzi's very first film was an uncredited walk-on part in Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). She went on to appear in many movies, most of which were made in her native Italy. In her early films, she is credited as Luciana Paoluzzi.

Even though Paluzzi had an extensive resume before and after her brush with Bond, audiences worldwide still remember her best as the fiery, red-haired villainess she played in Thunderball. Paluzzi originally auditioned for the part of the lead Bond girl, Dominetta "Domino" Palazzi. The producers eventually cast a former Miss France, Claudine Auger, changing the Domino character from an Italian to a Frenchwoman. Initially crestfallen when informed she did not get the part, Paluzzi rejoiced when told her consolatory prize was the part of the "bad girl", Fiona Volpe, which she said was "more fun to play".

In the 1959-1960 season, she appeared with David Hedison in the short-lived espionage television series, Five Fingers, a Martin ManulisProduction on NBC. In 1964 she played the villainess in another espionage-based Ian Fleming creation, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. She appeared as the seductive THRUSH agent Angela in the first season episode "The Four Steps Affair" and in the movie version of the show's pilot episode, To Trap a Spy.^[1] She was also second female lead in the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello comedy vehicle Muscle Beach Party (1964) and played the love interest in the 1967 western Chuka. She also made appearances in many American television series.

Years later, Paluzzi admitted that being a Bond girl was a double-edged sword. She was amazed at the level of fame, publicity and recognition she received from Thunderball; but as a result of being in such an outlandish film, she felt she was taken less seriously as an actress when returning to the Italian film industry.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975, Paluzzi acted alongside fellow Bond girl Ursula Andress in The Sensuous Nurse.

Personal life

Paluzzi was married to actor Brett Halsey from 1960-1962. Halsey also guest starred in an episode of Five Fingers. The marriage ended indivorce. The couple had one son. In 1980 she married Michael Solomon; the couple resides in Los Angeles, California.

Posted in: Italian actresses