Britt Ekland `loves being a Bond girl`

I never thought that I would live past 40, said former Bond girl Britt Ekland to ThisIsSouthDevon.

The Swedish star was in a reflective mood in the very unglamorous confines of an upstairs room in Torquay's St Luke's Church after walking dog Tequila, writes Jonpaul Hedge.

"I thought 40 was horribly old when I was 16," she said.

"You have to remember that I grew up in Sweden, which was a very conservative country.

"I don't care what people abroad think, it is true. And I grew up in a very conservative home.

"My mum was old at the age of 40, even though she had another child.

"I looked at her and thought I didn't want to get that old. Then, of course, I ended up having a child when I was 45.

"It's funny how we look at age when we are young and then age catches up with you.

"I think that age is only really relevant in as much as you get a pension and the health you have."

Britt's career and rise to fame, which saw her regarded as one of the most beautiful women on the planet, rose out of conservative times and a conservative thinking family.

"When I was younger I was very rebellious," she said.

"I started working immediately after school. I hated school but I wish now that I had stayed in education. I certainly wish that I had gone to university.

"My father said to me that he would let me stay at home for one year while I was working and studying theatre, and then I would have to grow up and earn my on own money.

"That's exactly what I did. I toured with a theatre company and I was 'discovered'.

"It meant that I started in movies.

"And I went straight from that into getting married to Peter Sellers.

"I had never lived with a man before I married him. I had always lived with my parents and my grandparents. It was a big change."

Britt starred with Peter in After the Fox, directed by Vittorio De Sica, and The BoBo.

She went on to appear in more than 30 feature films, including The Double Man with Yul Brynner, The Night They Raided Minsky's with Jason Robards, Baxter with Patricia Neal, Royal Flash with Malcolm McDowell, The Wicker Man with Edward Woodward, Get Carter with Michael Caine and Scandal with John Hurt.

But it's her role alongside Roger Moore in The Man With the Golden Gun with that she is perhaps best known for, despite achievements as an actress since.

Britt says she doesn't mind Bond overshadowing other roles.

"Bond was very important to me and still is today," she said.

"I think it is a huge complement to be called 'a beautiful Bond girl' or whatever. Even at my age.

"It is one of those things that say, if you were the star of The Matrix, people would say 'she's the Matrix star'. But with Bond, it is a very special and very exclusive club.

"And we all know who we are in this club, whether it is the Roger Moore Bond or Craig (Daniel) type Bond. We are all just 'Bond'.

"And it is not just the women, it is all the men that have taken part too.

"That said, when it comes to the Bond girls of the present time, maybe they don't feel as special as we did back then.

"Back in the 1960s and 1970s, that's when the Bond films started something that has brought them to what they are today. We sort of built up what they are today. I love being a Bond girl."

Bond brought fame as well as fortune.

But as an actress Britt said she has had other less high-profile, but no less important, successes.

"I was discovered but you don't think that way, or at least I don't," she said.

"As an actor I have never thought that way. There have been times in my present life where I felt that things came together really well and one of those times was Grumpy Old Women because it was obviously very funny but, for me, a very courageous thing to do.

"And I did it and I've never done anything like that before.

"It worked out fantastically well and that led to my one-woman show which is now in development and I hope will come together next year."

Meanwhile, Britt is appearing in pantomime at Torquay's Princess Theatre.

It means a Christmas away from home, an event she is more than used to.

"I've been doing it for so many years that I don't mind," she said.

"Christmas means pantomime to me. My youngest son is now grown up. When he was four or five years old he would come and be with me for panto but, you know, he's an adult now."

She added: "On Christmas Day I think that all of us who don't have family here are going out for a meal.

"Look at the view you have in Torquay, it is fantastic. We haven't been able to see it because the sea has been so violent and the rain has been so hard. But outside that it is gorgeous here."

Having seen Britt in her element as a Bond girl I was intrigued to meet her face to face.

I was amazed at how, despite being 67 years old, those years have been kind.

Or perhaps it is less about the kindness of years and more about Britt's self determination.

"My mother had Alzheimer's and she lived for more than 11 years in a hospital ward, basically," she said.

"I just felt that 'that's not how I want to live'. I know there is nothing that she could have done about it, but, I think we can do lots ourselves, although not particularly with Alzheimer's.

"I want to be mobile so I do exercise, I walk, I do Pilates, and I have a dog which means that there is no way that I can stay in bed with a hangover. The hangover has to come out with me and the dog.

"I just want to prove to myself, not anyone else, that you can take care of yourself.

"It is your body, it is your responsibility. It is not your doctor's responsibility.

"And maybe that is a message that I want to get out to some other women, too.

"You are responsible — unless, of course, you have some devastating genetic disease.

"You can always look after yourselves, watch your weight and exercise."

She added: "I am extremely lucky at my age to still be working and to be able to enjoy a lifestyle that I have created for myself.

"I feel very privileged, I really do."

Cinderella runs at the Princess Theatre from Thursday until January 2.

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