Actress Luciana Paluzzi was one of many voluptuous Italian brunettes groomed for international stardom in the wake of Gina Lollobrigida. Working both sides of the Atlantic in the '50s in such films as Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and Sea Fury (1958), Ms. Paluzzi was given a chance at American TV stardom in the role of Simone Genet on the 1959 espionage weekly Five Fingers. Little was required of Paluzzi other than looking gorgeous in low-cut evening gowns; while this kept Five Fingers alive in the fan magazines, it wasn't enough to sustain the series beyond 17 episodes. Her career in a slump in 1965, she accepted a villainess role in the James Bond epic Thunderball. She portrayed Fiona, one of the few women on this planet able to resist the charms of Mr. Bond; perhaps as punishment for this, Fiona is killed on the dance floor by her own companions, whereupon James deposits her body at a nearby table and says "Do you mind if my partner sits this one out? She's just dead." This fleeting association with a box-office blockbuster enabled Luciana Paluzzi to extend her European starring career well into the '70s.
by Hal Erickson
biography
