Linda Christian (November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films and reached her peak in the forties and fifties of the 20th century. Later, she played Marla in Johnny Weissmuller's last Tarzan film, Tarzan and the Mermaid (1948). She is also known for being the first Bond girl, appearing in the 1954 television series Casino Royale, based on the James Bond novel. In 1963, she played Eva Ashley in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Christian's only wish when he was young was to become a doctor. After graduating from high school, she accidentally met her screen idol Errol Flynn and became her lover, and then she gave up hope of joining the medical profession under his persuasion and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. Shortly after arriving in Hollywood, she was spotted by Louis B. Mayer's secretary at a fashion show in Beverly Hills and offered to sign MGM to a seven-year contract, which she accepted.
Her stage name is Flynn, taken from the surname of Fletcher Christian in "Rebel Blood", and Flynn herself played Fletcher Christian in a 1933 Australian film "Rebel Blood".
In his autobiography, "My Wicked, Wicked Ways," Flynn said that immediately after Linda Christian auditioned, he offered to pay her to fix a few crooked teeth whenever she participated. Eventually, when he received a huge bill, he found out that she had taken the opportunity to have cosmetic dentistry. Years later, when he saw her again, he said, "Smile, darling – I want to see those teeth: they took the first bite on me." ”
Her film debut was the 1944 musical comedy Armed, with Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore. The film also happens to be Danny Kaye's own first film. This film was followed by Mexican Holiday (1946), Green Dolphin Street (1947), and her most famous film, Tarzan and the Mermaid (1948). On January 1, 1949, Vogue magazine published a famous photograph of her.
Christian was the first Bond girl to appear on screen, playing Valerie Mathis (opposite Barry Nelson as James Bond) in the 1954 TV series adaptation of Casino Royale, eight years before Ursula Anders.
