THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
BY LEE PFEIFFER
Molly Peters, who began her career as a nude "glamour girl" model before starting a short-lived film career, has passed away at age 78. She had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer according to her husband but it was a stroke to which she succumbed. Peters' voluptuous appearance made her one of the more popular of the provocative models who posed for men's magazines in the 1960s. She posed for England's legendary photographer of nudes, Harrison Marks. She landed the only memorable role of her career in the 1965 James Bond blockbuster "Thunderball". In the film, Bond (Sean Connery) was sent to the Shrublands health spa to recuperate from some wear-and-tear. Here he encounters nurse Pat (Peters), a sexy blonde who conveniently is assigned to look after Bond's needs. Within short order Bond has her naked in a steam room. In another scene, Bond memorably massages the nude Pat with a mink glove. At the health spa, Bond discovers some nefarious activities going on by Spectre agents that finds Pat bewildered by Bond's strange comings and goings. Peters' scenes were brief but among the film's most memorable including a scene in which she straps Bond to a therapeutic stretching machine that a Spectre agent uses to almost deadly effect on 007. Following "Thunderball", Peters made the little-seen thriller "Target for Killing" co-starring "Thunderball" villain Adolfo Celi and future Bond baddies Karin Dor and Curt Jurgens. In 1968 she made her last credited film, "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River" with Jerry Lewis. In 1995 this writer along with Cinema Retro co-publisher Dave Worrall along with Mark Cerulli and John Cork, tracked Ms.Peters down. She participated in an extensive on-camera interview recalling her experiences for the "Thunderball" special edition laser disc. The interview is now available on both the Blu-ray and DVD editions of the movie.
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