Luciana
Paluzzi
Actress Luciana Paluzzi was one of many
voluptuous Italian brunettes groomed for international stardom in
the wake of Gina Lollobrigida. Working both sides of the Atlantic
in the '50s in such films as Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and
Sea Fury (1958), Ms. Paluzzi was given a chance at American TV stardom
in the role of Simone Genet on the 1959 espionage weekly Five Fingers.
Little was required of Paluzzi other than looking gorgeous in low-cut
evening gowns; while this kept Five Fingers alive in the fan magazines,
it wasn't enough to sustain the series beyond 17 episodes. Her career
in a slump in 1965, she accepted a villainess role in the James Bond
epic Thunderball. She portrayed Fiona, one of the few women on this
planet able to resist the charms of Mr. Bond; perhaps as punishment
for this, Fiona is killed on the dance floor by her own companions,
whereupon James deposits her body at a nearby table and says "Do
you mind if my partner sits this one out? She's just dead." This
fleeting association with a box-office blockbuster enabled Luciana
Paluzzi to extend her European starring career well into the '70s.
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