The First Ever Biography of 007 Bond girl Madeline Smith
Publish Date: 30th September 2026
*The first official biography of this one-time shop girl plucked from obscurity and thrust into fame as a model and then actress.
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*Best remembered for her role as Miss Carusso in Live and Let Die, she also starred in such comedy classics as Carry on Matron and Up Pompeii, as well as Hammer House of Horror films such as The Vampire Lovers and Theatre of Blood….and many, many more.
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*As at home on the small screen as the large, she appeared on many TV shows such as The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and The Persuaders, as well as in theatre, most notably taking the leading role in The Mousetrap for two years.
*At 75 she is still working, having appeared in Not Going Out and, most recently, the 2021 film reimagining of The Amazing Mr Blunden (having also starred in the 1972 original).
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*Maddy Smith tells her story for the first time, with many amusing anecdotes from over 50 years in show business, also sharing her philosophy on growing old, commenting on which doors close but also the many more that open.
Madeline Smith’s career began without warning. A shop girl in a London suburb one week and a front-line model in rising high street fashion chain BiBa the next. It was 1967 and it was Barbara Hulanicki who recognised the unique innocence and sparkle of Madeline Smith and Madeline never looked back.
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Telling her story for the first time, despite many calls for her book to take its place amongst those of the film and TV super stars of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, it is only now, as she continues to perform in her sunset years, that ‘Call Me Maddie’ Smith has decided to take us on a journey through her amazingly eventful life – a book for all seasons and all people that brings us right up to today where she continues to write, act, entertain and display a zest for life that was always the hallmark of her smile and personality.
This book will appeal to many audiences – James Bond enthusiasts around the world for her ‘Bond Girl’ role opposite Roger Moore in the 1973 James Bond spy film Live and Let Die, the thousands of fans of the Hammer Horror film such as The Vampire Lovers (1970) where Maddie played opposite Peter Cushing through to Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price (1973). The fans of the ‘Carry On’ films will also be fascinated by her memories starring in Carry On Matron in 1972 while other film buffs will recall her role in The Amazing Mr Blunden, written by Lionel Jefferies and directed by Brian Forbes in 1972 – and that is without even mentioning working with Cliff Richard in Take Me High (1973) amongst many others.
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On into the 1980’s and this book of important vignettes in time, humorous anecdotes and reflective observations about decades past and present, and we hear about working again with Roger Moore and Tony Curtis in The Persuaders or Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies, with Leslie Phillips in Casanova, Christopher Timothy in All Creatures Great and Small and with Eric Morecambe in his final performance in 1984.
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Maddie is passionate about theatre and this book reveals emotional and humorous personal insights into working in The West End with Alec Guiness, when Maddie performed with him in Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus, or playing the female lead in The Mousetrap for two years at St. Martin’s Theatre. Today Maddie Smith is still in demand to play parts in plays all around the country as well as TV roles in Not Going Out (2014) and Dancing On The Edge (2013).
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Maddie is in the prime of life at age 75 and writes regular columns and front-page leaders for The Oldie where she is currently contributing to a series titled ‘Growing Old Disgracefully’ – no doubt readers of that monthly magazine will delight in the prospect of reading a whole book by Maddie – as will many thousands of morning TV watchers who often see Maddie invited onto a variety of TV programmes.
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Working alongside experienced writer and biographer Philip Kay-Bujak, this opportunity to share with us her philosophy on growing old, commenting on which doors close but also the many more that open, is a gift to us all and will inspire anyone that reads it. It is long overdue and proves that stars like Madeline Smith truly Live and Never Let Die.
