Honor Blackman "The Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs. Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination". During the 1960s, Blackman practised judo at the famous Budokwai dojo. This helped her prepare for her roles as Cathy Gale in "The Avengers" and Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger." At 38, she was one of the oldest actresses to play a Bond girl,five years older than Sean Connery. In 1968 Blackman appeared opposite John Neville and Hylda Baker in the musical play "Mr & Mrs", based on the plays of Noël Coward. In
Helena Blackman Helena Blackman Helena Blackman (born 10 December 1982 in Southampton) is a British musical theatre actress best known for being the runner-up in the hit BBC1 Reality TV programme "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?". She trained at the Guildford School of Acting. On 29 October 2006, Blackman was seen as Gypsy Rose Lee in a production of "" which was performed at the Wales Millennium Centre as part of the "Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre". In December 2006, Blackman played Dorothy in an acclaimed run of "The Wizard of Oz" at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester.