The Playboy Bunny civil-rights activist who became Mrs Bond
In the 1960s Gloria Hendry was a legal secretary in a civil rights group. But, tired of bomb threats, she became a Playboy Bunny — and the first African American ‘Mrs Bond.'
Gloria Hendry grew up in New Jersey in a chaotic household. Determined to get away from her alcoholic and abusive step-father, she wanted to become a lawyer. But her white guidance counsellor told her that was unrealistic for an African American girl from a poor neighbourhood. So she became a legal secretary at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in 1960’s New York.
But Gloria tired of living with the constant threats that came with her work and one day saw an advert for a job with the new Playboy club. They were looking to hire hostesses, or ‘Bunnies,’ and would pay much more than her secretarial work. Gloria became a Playboy Bunny and soon after began working in Blaxploitation movies. Then one day she got a call to audition to be in the next James Bond movie, Live And Let Die. She made cinema history as the first African American woman to be romantically linked to 007 on screen.
She’s written a memoir about her life: Gloria Hendry, 007 Bond, Bunny and Black Renaissance “IFM”.
Film Clips: Black Belt Jones, Savage Sisters, Hell Up in Harlem, Live and Let Die, owned by MGM
Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Sarah Kendal
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp 44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Gloria Hendry at Heroes and Legends Awards. Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 14 Mar 2024 12:06GMTBBC World Service
- Thu 14 Mar 2024 18:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Thu 14 Mar 2024 23:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Fri 15 Mar 2024 03:06GMTBBC World Service
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected