Honor Blackman, Queen of Spy-Fi, passes of old age (news).

Honor Blackman, the Queen of Spy-fy, who starred in Goldfinger, the Avengers TV series, as well as fantasy movies such as Jason and the Argonauts, (not to mention Doctor Who in The Trial of a Time Lord episodes), has sadly now passed away aged 94.

Honor was cast with Sean Connery in the James Bond flick Goldfinger due on her role in The Avengers (the original good one: not the Marvel caped stuff).

Broccoli wryly noted, “The Brits would love Honor because they knew her as Mrs. Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination!”

Honor Blackman was John Steed’s first female partner after the departure of Steed’s co-star, Dr David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). She made her first appearance at the start of the series’ second season in 1962. Cathy Gale was a trail-blazing female character for British television, and was elevated to cult status for wearing a leather outfit designed to make it easier for Gale to fight – which started a fashion trend, as did the wearing of her kinky boots.

In the Too Many Christmas Trees episode of The Avengers, John Steed gets a Christmas card from Honor’s character Cathy Gale. Reading the card, he ponders, “Whatever can she be doing at Fort Knox…?”

As well as her role as Bond’s Pussy Galore, Honor was a female martial artist who wrote ‘Honor Blackman’s Book of Self-Defence’ (Andre Deutsch), the first self-defence tome written for women.

The spies played by Honor also formed the composite for author Stephen Hunt’s Agatha Witchley character, an ex-agent pensioner turned detective who thinks she sees ghosts, but who might be insane following decades of KGB captivity (Secrets of the Moon etc).

Goodbye, Honor, you’ll be missed.