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
Malorie Blackman (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. In June 2013, Blackman was announced as the new Children's Laureate, succeeding Julia Donaldson. Malorie Blackman lives with her husband Neil and daughter Elizabeth in Kent, England. In her free time, she likes to play her piano, compose, play computer games and write poetry. She is the subject of a biography for children by Verna Wilkins. In March 2014, Blackman joined other prominent authors in supporting the Let Books Be Books campaign, which seeks to stop children’s books being labelled as 'for girls' or 'for boys'. In August 2014, Malorie Blackman was one of