'I travelled the world as a Bond girl - but nothing could prepare me for terrifying health scares'
06.05.2024 - 20:35
/ ok.co.uk
From appearing alongside Sir Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me to working in the recording studio with Grammy Award-winning producers, Susie Vanner’s life has been one incredible journey. But it hasn’t all been easy. After suffering a brain haemorrhage and being diagnosed with breast cancer, the actress and musician has experienced the highs as well as the lows.
“I've had the most amazing life. I travelled the world in my twenties, when I did the James Bond movie. We went to Australia, Japan and South America.
I’d never have done that in my twenties if I hadn’t been working as an actress at the time,” she tells OK! “It's just been a whirlwind, amazing journey of a life.” Having started her career as a Northern Soul artist in the 1960s, Susie’s life took a turn when she was 19 years old. After her boyfriend at the time connected her with an agent, the star’s life changed as she knew it. “I met a photographer who became my first boyfriend and he said, ‘I'm gonna take some pictures’ and he took them to a film agent and one was looking for a new actress to manage.
I walked in and she said ‘OK, darling, I'll start you off with commercials, and we'll see how we go from there,’” she explains. “I said, ‘Oh, don’t you need me to do drama?’ She replied, ‘Oh, no, darling. Don't worry about that.’ I was taken by her and didn't stop working.” From there, Susie appeared in films including Nighthawks opposite Sylvester Stallone and A Man Called Intrepid with David Niven - and even appeared in the tenth James Bond film.
As a Log Cabin Girl in The Spy Who Loved Me, Susie still gets letters from fans to this day. “It was like, ‘wow, is this really happening,’” she says. “Working at Pinewood with Roger, director Lewis Gilbert and
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