Barbara Bouchet, born Barbara Goutscher, on August 15, 1943 in Reichenberg (now Liberec), Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) is an actress and entrepreneuse.
Barbara Bouchet | |
|---|---|
 Barbara Bouchet | |
| Born | Barbara Goutscher |
| Years active | 1964 - present |
| Spouse | Luigi Borgese |
She has acted in more than 80 films and television episodes and owns a production company that has produced fitness videos and books as well as owning a fitness studio.
Her most famous roles include starring as Miss Moneypenny in Casino Royale, as Kelinda in Star Trek, By Any Other Name and as Mrs Schermerhorn in Gangs of New York.
Biography
Youth
She was born as Barbara Goutscher to a Sudeten German household.
After the end of the Second World War, the Allied Powers, meeting at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, reached an agreement on the transfer of the Germans in Eastern Europe.
This decision affected her family as they had to leave their homeland but they managed to relocate to the United States where they were, eventually, able to settle in San Francisco, California, where she was raised and where she, later, attended the Galileo High School.
Her first experience of fame came in her mid-teens when she entered the "Miss Gidget" contest on the Dick Stewart Television Show, at KPIX-TV in 1959. She won the contest and got a date with the star of the movie, Gidget, James Darren.
She became one of the "Regulars" on the Dick Stewart Television Show called The KPIX Dance Party. The "Regulars" were teenage dancers who danced to the top hits of the day. They were TV stars, by virtue of the attention they received by being on television six days per week.
She was on the show from 1959 through 1962, after which she moved to the Hollywood area and made it into the film industry, changing her surname to Bouchet which had a more fashionable cachet.
A youthful photo of Barbara Bouchet can be seen here.[1]
Career
Barbara Bouchet began her career modeling for magazine covers and appearing in television commercials, before eventually becoming an actress. Her first acting role was a minor part in What a Way to Go!, 1964, which led to a series of other roles in the 1960s, all of which emphasised her beauty, looks and figure.
Examples are such films as : John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, 1964, in which she is dressed in alluring harem silk robes, In Harm's Way, 1964, in which she is seen nude on the beaches of Pearl Harbor, and Agent for H.A.R.M., 1966, in which she wears a bikini for most of the time that she is on screen.
Moreover, in the 1967 James Bond satire, Casino Royale, she added a sultry element to the otherwise restrained Miss Moneypenny.
She starred with William Shatner, in Star Trek, By Any Other Name, 1968, which has a memorable scene where he kisses her repeatedly.
In 1970, she moved to Italy where she began acting in Italian films after growing tired of Hollywood's typecasting. She rapidly became one of the top actresses in the country as she was constantly in demand due to her strong professional work ethics, her natural acting abilities, and her grace, style and beauty.[2]
Some notable films that she starred in, at this era, were Ricerca del piacere, 1971 and Casa d'Appuntamento, 1972 with Rosalba Neri and Milano calibro 9, 1972, with Gastone Moschin.
She starred with Yul Brynner in Con la rabbia agli occhi, known in English as Death Rage, 1976 and with Gregory Peck in The Scarlet and The Black, 1983.
In the 1980s she became a television personality on Italian television, typically appearing on a chat show with fellow Italian actress, Edwige Fenech.
In 1985, she founded a production company and started to produce a successful series of keep fit books and videos. In addition, she opened a fitness studio in Rome, Italy.
In 2002, she returned to American Cinema, appearing as Mrs Schermerhorn in Gangs of New York.
Personal life
In 1976, Barbara Bouchet married Luigi Borghese, a producer, and has a child with him. He subsequently produced some of her films.
She lives in Rome with her husband and family and continues to work actively in films.
Trivia
- Barbara Bouchet is a cosmopolitan star. Although her place of birth is now in the Czech Republic, as a Sudeten German, she has never identified with that country. She was brought up in the United States and the country she now feels the closest affinity to is Italy where she has lived since 1970 and, indeed, where she met her husband, married and raised a family.[3]
Filmography
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Television Credits
- Dick Stewart Television Show, (1959-1962) one of the dancers on the KPIX Dance Party (uncredited)
- "The Rogues" (1964) (1 episode) - Elsa Idonescu
- "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1965) (1 episode) - Tippy Penfield
- "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1966) (1 episode) - Narcissus Darling
- "The Virginian" (1967) (1 episode) - Marianne
- "Tarzan" - (1968) (1 episode) - Phyllis Fraser
- "Star Trek" (1968) (1 episode) - Kelinda
- Cool Million (1972) - Carla Miles
- "Beauty Center Show" (1983)
- The Scarlet and the Black (1983) - Minna Kappler
- Quelli della speciale (1992) (mini-series)
- "Stracult 2" (2001) (1 episode) - Herself
- Incantesimo 6 (2003)
- "Diritto di difesa" (2004) (4 episodes) - Gilardi's Mother
- Un Posto al sole (2004)
- "Capri" (2006) - Avv. Maggioni
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Interiano, Manny. "Barbara Bouchet (Gutscher) Youthful Photo". Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ Regoli, Alessandro. "Barbara Bouchet Biografia" (in Italian). Retrieved 2007-01-12.
- ^ Lombardini, Luca. "Incontro con Barbara Bouchet" (in Italian). Retrieved 2007-01-12.