Madeline Smith (born 2 August 1949) is an English actress. After working as a model in the late 1960s, she went on to appear in many television series and stage productions, as well as comedy and horror films, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Smith played Bond girl Miss Caruso in Live and Let Die (1973), but also had larger roles in the horror films The Vampire Lovers (1970), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), Tam Lin (1970), Theatre of Blood (1973) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), and comedy films including Up Pompeii (1971), Up the Front (1972) and Carry On Matron (1972) among others. She also appeared in the films The Killing of Sister George (1968), Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1970), The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972), and the musical film Take Me High (1973) with Cliff Richard.
After leaving the acting profession in the mid-1980s to raise her family, she returned to acting in 2011.
Early life Smith was born in Hartfield, Sussex, the only child of Robert and Ursula Smith (née Boas). Her father owned an antiques shop and painting restoration business near Kew Gardens, and her Swiss mother was a translator. Smith received a convent school education.
In her late teens, she held a temporary job at Biba, a boutique located on Kensington High Street, London. At the instigation of Barbara Hulanicki, founder of Biba, Smith became a model.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she was regularly featured in the work of Disc cartoonist J. Edward Oliver, who on one occasion devoted an entire strip to her entitled "The Life and Habits of the Madeline Smith".
Career Smith's first screen role was a small part in the film Escalation (1968), followed by a role in The Mini-Affair (1967), although the latter was released first. Smith first worked for Hammer Film Productions in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), billed as Maddy Smith and playing an East End prostitute. Among her other film appearances, she played opposite Ava Gardner in Tam Lin, Peter Cushing in The Vampire Lovers and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Diana Dors in The Amazing Mr Blunden, Frankie Howerd in Up Pompeii and Up the Front, and Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood. In 1972, Smith appeared in Carry On Matron in a scene alongside Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, and Joan Sims.
In 1973, she played the Bond girl Miss Caruso in the post-opening titles sequence of Live and Let Die, the first James Bond film starring Roger Moore. Smith's role is therefore significant as Miss Caruso is the first Bond girl of the Roger Moore era. Smith and Moore take part in a scene in which he unzips her dress with a magnetic wristwatch. She was recommended for the role by Moore himself, having previously appeared with him in an episode of the television series The Persuaders!.
Smith's numerous stage credits include working with US director Charles Marowitz on Blue Comedy (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford) and The Snob (at Marowitz's Tottenham Court Road venue the Open Space). She also acted opposite Alec Guinness in the original West End production of Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus (playing Felicity Rumpers), supported Frankie Howerd again in the Volpone adaptation The Fly and the Fox (Churchill Theatre, Bromley), played Elma in a Cambridge Theatre Company revival of Frederick Lonsdale's Canaries Sometimes Sing, and spent two years playing the female lead in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap at the St Martin's Theatre.
Her television credits include Doctor at Large (1971), The Two Ronnies (appearing in the serial Hampton Wick, 1971), Clochemerle (1972), His and Hers (1970) with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Casanova '73 (1973) with Leslie Phillips, Steptoe and Son (1974), The Howerd Confessions (1976), Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980), and The Steam Video Company (1984). She also featured in two episodes of All Creatures Great and Small, as two different characters (as Angela Farmer in "Pride of Possession" (1978) and as Anne Grantley in the 1983 Christmas special). She was a member of the regular cast of the BBC2 series The End of the Pier Show (1974) and In the Looking Glass (1978) alongside satirists John Wells and John Fortune and composer Carl Davis. Smith also starred in The Passionate Pilgrim (1984), which was the final screen appearance of Eric Morecambe.
After the birth of her daughter in 1984, Smith gradually wound down her career to give her time to raise her. In 2009, Smith was interviewed in, and was the cover star of, the coffee-table book Hammer Glamour. She returned to acting in 2011 with an appearance in an episode of Doctors. She then followed this with a role in a docu-drama marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic before starring in the miniseries Dancing on the Edge (2013) and appearing in an episode of Not Going Out in 2014. In 2015, she appeared as a contestant on the red team in the BBC antiques gameshow Bargain Hunt. In December 2018, she appeared in episode 4 of the Christmas series of Celebrity Mastermind with the history of Kew Gardens as her specialist subject.
In 2026, Philip Bujak and Smith co-authored her memoirs, titled Madeline Smith, Bond Girl.
Personal life Smith's partner was the actor David Buck, whom she met in 1974.Alberge, Dalya (9 June 2026). "Former Bond girl: The men in Hollywood I turned down". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2026. They were together until he died from cancer in 1989.Marcus Hearn, Hammer Glamour: Classic Images from the Archive of Hammer Films, Titan Books, 2009 The couple had a daughter, born in 1984.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1968 The Mini-Affair Samantha Escalation Girl on bicycle uncreditedThe Killing of Sister George Nun uncredited1969 Come Back Peter Miss Beaufort-Smith 1970 Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You Gwendolyn Taste the Blood of Dracula Dolly The Vampire Lovers Emma Morton Tam Lin Sue 1971 Up Pompeii Erotica The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins Girl Mr. Forbush and the Penguins Unknown scene cut1972 Carry On Matron Mrs. Pullitt Up the Front Fanny The Amazing Mr Blunden Bella 1973 The Love Ban Miss Partridge Theatre of Blood Rosemary Live and Let Die Miss Caruso Take Me High Vicki 1974 Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell Sarah Percy's Progress Miss UK 1975 Galileo Young Lady 1976 The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones Sophia Shadows of Doubt Girl 1977 Fern, the Red Deer Mrs. Gordon The Quality Connection Wendy 1980 Why Didn't They Ask Evans? Moira Nicholson 1981 Late Flowering Love Girl 1984 The Passionate Pilgrim Damsel 2019 Up Pompeii! Ammonia 2020 Crazy Bitch Blues Alison Jeepers Creepers Fantasy Lover voice2021 The Amazing Mr. Blunden Geraldine 2026 The Alice Paradox Angela Hobbes
Television Year Title Role Notes1969 Who-Dun-It Gwynneth Evans Episode: "Murder Goes to School" Cribbins 6 episodes1970 His and Hers Janet Burgess 6 episodes On the House Angela Episode: "A Little Bit on the Side" The Adventures of Don Quick Leonie Episode: "The Love Reflector"1971 Doctor at Large Sue Maxwell 5 episodes The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder Miss Clutterbuck Episode: "The Willing Victim" Hine Patricia Harris Episode: "The Little White Lady" The Two Ronnies Henrietta Beckett 8 episodes The Persuaders! Carla I Episode: "The Long Goodbye" Jason King Jonquil 2 episodes1972 Clochemerle Hortense Girodot 3 episodes ITV Sunday Night Theatre Mary Todd Episode: "Madly in Love" Them Episode: "#1.2" Milligan in... Various Episode: "Milligan in Autumn" Harriet's Back in Town Diane 2 episodes1973 The Fenn Street Gang Miss Bedwell Episode: "Business Deficiency" Ooh La La! Julie Episode: "A Pig in a Poke" Casanova '73 Tessa Finlay Episode: "#1.6"1974 Crown Court Patricia Drake Episode: "Falling Stars: Part 1" Wodehouse Playhouse / Comedy Playhouse Aurelia Cammerleigh Episode: "The Reverend Wooing of Archibald: Pilot" Happy Ever After Sally Thompson Episode: "Amateur Dramatics" Steptoe and Son Carol Episode: "Back in Fashion" Rooms Fran 2 episodes1974–1976 The End of the Pier Show Various All 7 episodes1975 A Touch of the Casanovas Teresa TV film1976 My Brother's Keeper Angela Lloyd Episode: "Tooling Up" The Howerd Confessions The Nurse Episode: "#1.3" Going For A Song Herself Episode: 27 August1977 Big Boy Now! Debbie Longhurst Episode: "Mr and Mrs" Romance Peggy Episode: "The Black Knight"1978 In the Looking Glass Various All 6 episodes All Creatures Great and Small Angela Farmer Episode: "Pride of Possession"1980 Feelifax Fridge Voice The Bagthorpe Saga Aunt Celia 3 episodes1981 Funny Man Prunella Episode: "Letting Go"1982 A.J. Wentworth, B.A. Mrs. Hillman Episode: "Founder's Day"1982–1986 Eureka Various All 32 episodes1983 All Creatures Great and Small Anne Grantley Episode: "1983 Special"1984 The Steam Video Company Various All 6 episodes1985 The Pickwick Papers Miss Nupkins Episode: "#1.7"2011 Doctors Rita Prentice Episode: "Whip Hand"2012 Titanic: Southampton Remembers Maud Newman TV film2013 Dancing on the Edge Violetta 2 episodes2014 Not Going Out Party Guest Episode: "Christening"2021 The Amazing Mr. Blunden Geraldine TV film
Bibliography
Kay-Bujak, Philip (2026) Madeline Smith, Bond Girl: from 60's fashion model to half a century on stage & screen, White Owl Publishers
References
External links
BBC: Actress recalls glamour of Hammer – 2009 interview with Madeline Smith