French actress Claudine Auger was several years into her career when she won the role of Dominque "Domino" Derval in the 1965 James Bond film THUNDERBALL. Although Domino remains one of the most popular "Bond girls" in that franchise, working on THUNDERBALL didn't make Auger an international sensation, perhaps because her speaking voice was dubbed. She would never work on a movie even close to being that high profile again – but she did continue working steadily in French and Italian productions for decades, earning her last screen credit in 1997.
Auger worked on a few horror films along the way, and today we have to share the sad news that Auger passed away on December 18th at the age of 78. Her agency Time Art said her passing came after "a long period of illness".
Auger's horror credits came in the 1971 film BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA (which happened to co-star Barbara Bouchet, who was in the 1967 Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE, and Barbara Bach, who became a Bond girl with 1977's THE SPY WHO LOVED ME), 1971's BAY OF BLOOD (a.k.a. TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE), and 1978's THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.
Directed by Paolo Cavara, BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA told the following story:
A series of victims are paralyzed while having their bellies ripped open, much in the same way tarantulas are killed by the black wasp. The victims all seem to have a connection with a spa.
I think BAY OF BLOOD (pictured above) is the most notable of Auger's genre work, because the film did have a direct (but largely unacknowledged) influence on the early FRIDAY THE 13TH films – in fact, one of the kills in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 was lifted from BAY OF BLOOD. Directed by Mario Bava, this one has the following synopsis:
The murder of a wealthy countess, which was erroneously deemed suicide, triggers a chain reaction of brutal killings in the surrounding bay area, as several unscrupulous characters try to take over her large estate.
Directed by René Cardona Jr., THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE is about exactly what you would expect it to be about:
The passengers and crew of a boat on a summer cruise in the Caribbean stray near the famed Bermuda Triangle, and mysterious things start happening.
Over the course of 39 years, Auger worked on 80 different films and television shows. I'm a huge fan of the Bond franchise, it's one of my top cinematic obsessions outside of the horror genre, so I have watched her play Domino many times – and will be watching THUNDERBALL more in the future.
Auger is survived by a daughter. Our sincere condolences go out to her family, friends, and fans.