Barbara Bach

Barbara Bach
Bach in 1978
Born
Barbara Goldbach

(1946-08-27) August 27, 1946 (age 78)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, model
Years active1965–present
Spouses
  • Augusto Gregorini
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1966; div. 1975)​
  • ​
    (m. 1981)​
Children2, including Francesca Gregorini
RelativesZak Starkey (stepson)

Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (née Goldbach; August 28,[1] 1946) is an American actress and former model. She played the Bond girl Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me. She is married to former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

Early life

Bach is a native of Rosedale, Queens[2] and was raised Roman Catholic.[3] She is of Jewish and Irish descent.[4] She graduated from Dominican Commercial High School, an all-girls school, in 1964.[5] The following year, she shortened her surname to Bach and began modeling professionally, appearing in catalogs and fashion magazines.

Career

Bach was one of the most sought-after faces of the 1960s, working with the Eileen Ford Agency in New York, appearing on catalogs and the front covers of several international fashion magazines such as Seventeen (1965 and 1966), Vogue USA (July 1966) photographed by Richard Avedon, ELLE France (1966), Gioia Italy (1967–1970), and Figurino Brazil (1970).

Her acting career started in Italy, where she played Nausicaa in L'Odissea in 1968, an eight-hour long TV adaptation of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, directed by Franco Rossi and produced by Dino de Laurentiis.

In 1971, Bach co-starred with two other Bond girls, Claudine Auger and Barbara Bouchet, in the mystery Black Belly of the Tarantula (a giallo film) and appeared in other Italian films.

Bach and Jean Sorel in a scene from Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971)

In 1977, Bach portrayed the Russian spy Anya Amasova in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Bach remarked after the film that Bond is "a chauvinist pig who uses girls to shield him against bullets."[6] The following year she appeared in the movie Force 10 from Navarone. She lost a role to actress Shelley Hack when she auditioned for season four of the television series Charlie's Angels.[7] During an interview with Johnny Carson on May 9, 1979, she said that she lost the audition for Charlie's Angels because they felt she was too sophisticated in attitude and look, and thought that she was not American, even though she was born in Rosedale and grew up in Jackson Heights, both in Queens, New York City. They asked her manager if she could play an American.[8]

Bach has 28 films to her credit. She was featured in a pictorial in Playboy in January 1981. She also had a cameo in a September 1987 special issue on the Bond girls.

Charity work

In 1991, Bach co-founded the Self Help Addiction Recovery Program (SHARP) with Pattie Boyd, the former wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton,[9] both of whom assisted in the venture.[10] Bach and Ringo Starr created The Lotus Foundation, a charity with many sub-charities.[11]

Personal life

Bach's first marriage was to Italian businessman Augusto, Count Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna. The couple had two children together, daughter Francesca and son Gianni, before divorcing in 1975.[7] Bach married British musician Ringo Starr, formerly of the Beatles, at Marylebone Town Hall on April 27, 1981.[12][13] The two met in 1980, on the set of the film Caveman (1981).[7]

Bach struggled with alcoholism and heavy drug use and, along with her husband, Ringo Starr, checked into a rehab in 1988 for four weeks. The couple have remained sober ever since.[14]

According to the International Vegetarian Union, Bach and Starr practice vegetarianism.[15]

She is fluent in Italian and has a working knowledge of French and Spanish.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1968 Odissea Nausicaa
1971 Mio padre Monsignore Chiara
The Black Belly of the Tarantula Jenny
Short Night of Glass Dolls Mira Svoboda
A Few Hours of Sunlight Héloïse / Elvire
1973 The Sensual Man Anna
Il maschio ruspante Rema
Stateline Motel Emily
1974 Street Law Barbara
1975 Legend of the Sea Wolf Maud Brewster
1977 Ecco noi per esempio Ludovica
The Spy Who Loved Me Major Anya Amasova
1978 Force 10 from Navarone Maritza Petrovich
1979 Island of the Fishmen Amanda Marvin
The Humanoid Lady Agatha
Jaguar Lives! Anna Thompson
The Great Alligator River Alice Brandt
1980 Up the Academy Bliss
1981 Caveman Lana
The Unseen Jennifer Fast
1983 Princess Daisy Vanessa Valerian
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street Journalist Cameo
1986 To the North of Katmandu Polo Player Cameo

References

  1. ^ Willis, John; Monush, Barry (1998). Screen World 1997. New York City, New York: Applause Books. ISBN 978-1-557-83320-4.
  2. ^ "On his 80th birthday, Ringo Starr's secret Jewish history". The Forward. July 7, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  3. ^ Marzlock, Ron (July 11, 2013). "Barbara Bach, a true Qns. beauty". Queens Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018.
  4. ^ Carlos N. (June 17, 2003). "Biography of Barbara Bach". barbara-bach.com. Retrieved November 24, 2006. Biography has been written from information compiled by press interviews, books, newspaper articles and biographies.
  5. ^ Bach, Barbara (April 18, 1984). "How Ringo has changed me". Weekend Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  6. ^ Jarvis, Jeff (July 18, 1983). "Bond's Beauties". Vol. 20, no. 3. People. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Rayl, Salley (February 23, 1981). "Ringo's Star". People. Vol. 15, no. 7. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Chevy Chase, Gallagher, Barbara Bach, Ricky Schroder". The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Season 17. Episode 134. May 9, 1979. NBC.
  9. ^ Harry, Bill (2003). The George Harrison Encyclopedia. London: Virgin Books. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7535-0822-0.
  10. ^ Womack, Kenneth (2016). The Beatles encyclopedia : everything Fab Four. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-4408-4426-3. OCLC 953387176.
  11. ^ "Ringo Starr tells Russell Brand about his favorite causes".
  12. ^ O'Neill, Terry (April 27, 1981). "The wedding of Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  13. ^ "Celebrity wedding venue popular with Sir Paul McCartney and Liam Gallagher reopens after £60m renovation". Evening Standard. October 9, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  14. ^ Taylor, Noreen (November 1988). "The day the laughing stopped for Barbara and Ringo Starr". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  15. ^ "Ringo Starr". International Vegetarian Union.
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