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Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)
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Datastream
Actress: Daniela Bianchi
Character: Tatiana Romanova
Movie: From Russia With Love
Date of Birth: 31 January 1942
Place of Birth: Rome, Italy
Trivia: In 1965 she was nominated for a Golden Laurel award
in the New Faces category.
Pleased to meet you
Tatiana Romanova is assigned to seduce and distract James
Bond by a duplicitous Rosa
Klebb. She first catches
007's attention with a photograph in her MI6 Dossier,
but proves even lovelier in person. She successfully sneaks
into his hotel suit in Istanbul in the middle
of the night, and professes her love for James Bond.
"The mechanism is... Oh James, James... Will you make love to me all the time in England?" |
Caught In the Act
It is mere moments after the couple meet that Agent 007 and Tatiana Romanova
form a bond. Tatiana slinks under his hotel bed sheets wearing nothing but
a black lace choker. Little do the lovers know that agents of SPECTRE
are recording the action
from
behind
a
one-way
mirror.
| Profile
Tatiana Romanova works a cipher clerk in the Russian security service's Istanbul
office. Under high security, Tatiana works with the Lektor decoder, the
latest in Russian secret transmission technology. Colonel Klebb (actually
working for SPECTRE) recruits Tatiana to seduce British Agent 007 in a double
bluff
to "mislead British Security". It is 007's intention to take her
safely back to England with her "dowry" - the Lektor decoder. In
reality, the lovely cipher clerk is a pawn in SPECTRE's deadly game that
could ultimately
lead
to the
death
of both Tatiana and 007. The ultimate Russian spy easily gets under 007's
skin!
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Memorable Quotes
Tatiana: "The mechanism is... Oh James, James... Will you make love to me all the time in England?"
Bond: "Day and night. Go on about the mechanism."
Tatiana: "You look surprised. I thought
you expected me."
Tatiana: "I think my mouth is too big"
Bond: "It's just the right size - for me that is."
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Biography
Born in Rome in 1943, Daniela Bianchi grew up the only child
of an army Colonel. After graduating from high school
Bianchi found a passion for ballet before launching into
a modeling career.
In 1960, she won the Miss Rome pageant
and the same year came runner up in the Miss World competition
winning
the title "Miss Photogenic". With the modeling career
in full swing she won jobs as
far away as Moscow and with a successful modeling career
made her break into filmmaking. After roles in three productions
in Italian cinema, Bianchi received her Hollywood break
with
her role in the 1963 James Bond outing, "From
Russia With Love". Over 200 actresses from around
the globe auditioned for the role of the Russian cipher
clerk but it was ultimately handed to Daniela Bianchi.
As a parallel to the film, director Terence Young selected
Bianchi from headshot when she was sick and unable to meet
her
audition.
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Young and Broccoli made an appointment with
the actress at her home and, twist on the old cliché, Bianchi
performed her initial audition reading from her bed - the same
scene that she would be best remembered for. After
the successful first audition, she was flown back to Pinewood
studios so the producers could make a decision on the casting.
It was narrowed down
to one of three actresses for the role (including model/actress,
Pia Lindstrom). Bianchi remembered, "I was so excited during
the first week of waiting that I couldn't sleep. Then when two
and three weeks passed, I began to lose hope, but when they called
me back to London for further tests with a new make-up and hairstyle,
my spirits zoomed again." .
During the shooting of
From Russia With Love, Bianchi was caught up in an almost
fatal car accident when the vehicle toppled over a 15-foot
drop. Daniela had a lucky escape, but her scratches
and bruises forced director Terence Young to re-work the shooting
schedule to give Bianchi's face two weeks to heal. Bianchi
was
impeccably dubbed for the role.
After her name headlined the numerous
posters and promotional material for From Russia With Love,
Bianchi became a household name - her beauty and seductive
character charming Bond fans across the globe. However,
it would be the first and last of her career in high-profile,
international filmmaking.
Bianchi's roles, post Bond, consisted
of a small handful of Italian and French pictures. In 1967,
she cashed in on the Bond connection, starring in the low-budget
Italian spy spoof Operation Kid Brother, which marked
the screen debut (and farewell) of Connery's brother Neil. She
retired from acting in 1970 to marry a Genoan shipping
magnate. They have one son.
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