Krystyna Skarbek Prince's Gate, Kensington, London. In May 2017, a bronze bust, by Ian Wolter, was unveiled at the Polish Hearth Club ("Ognisko Polskie") in Kensington, London. It has been said that Ian Fleming, in his first James Bond novel, "Casino Royale" (1953), modelled Vesper Lynd on her. According to William F. Nolan, Fleming also based Tatiana Romanova, in his 1957 novel "From Russia, with Love", on Skarbek. Skarbek biographer Clare Mulley, however, wrote that, "if Christine was immortalized as the carelessly beautiful double agent Vesper Lynd, Fleming is more likely to have been inspired by the stories he heard than the
Bond girl year instead. French actress Claudine Auger was ultimately cast in the role. "Thunderball" launched Auger into a successful European film career but did little for her in the United States. At one time it was said that appearing as a Bond girl would damage an actress's career. Lois Chiles is often cited as a case in point, even though her career did not suffer because of her portrayal of Holly Goodhead, but rather because, after she lost her younger brother to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, she decided to take a three-year break from acting, from which her career never recovered. Casting for