Barbara Bach

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Barbara Bach
Bach in 1978
Born	Barbara Goldbach (1947-08-27) August 27, 1947 (age 74) Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, model
Years active	1965–1986
Spouse(s)	Count Augusto Gregorini ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1978)​ Ringo Starr ​ ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	2, including Francesca Gregorini

Barbara Bach, Lady Starkey (born Barbara Goldbach on August 27, 1947),^[1] is an American actress and model, best known for her role as the Bond girl Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me. She is married to English musician and Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr.

Early life[]

Bach was born Barbara Goldbach, in New York City, in the Queens neighborhood of Rosedale, one of two daughters born to Howard Irwin Goldbach, a police officer of European Jewish heritage, and Marjorie Mary Goldbach (née McKnight), an Irish homemaker.^[1] In 1964, she graduated from the all-girl Dominican Commercial High School in Jamaica, Queens.^[2] The following year, she shortened her last name to Bach and began modeling professionally, appearing in catalogs and fashion magazines.

Career[]

Bach was one of the most sought-after faces of the 1960s, working with the Eileen Ford Agency in New York, appearing on catalogs and the front covers of several international fashion magazines such as Seventeen (1965 and 1966), Vogue USA (July 1966) photographed by Richard Avedon, ELLE France (1966), Gioia Italy (1967–1970), and Figurino Brazil (1970).^{[citation needed]}

Her acting career started in Italy, where she played Nausicaa in L'Odissea in 1968, an eight-hour long TV adaptation of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, directed by Franco Rossi and produced by Dino de Laurentiis.

In 1972, Bach co-starred with two other Bond girls, Claudine Auger and Barbara Bouchet, in the mystery Black Belly of the Tarantula (a giallo film) and appeared in other Italian films.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977, Bach portrayed the Russian spy Anya Amasova in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Bach remarked after the film that Bond is "a chauvinist pig who uses girls to shield him against bullets."^[3] The following year she appeared in the movie Force 10 from Navarone. She lost a role to actress Shelley Hack when she auditioned for season four of the television series Charlie's Angels.^[4] During an interview with Johnny Carson on May 9, 1979, she said that she lost the audition for Charlie's Angels because they felt she was too sophisticated in attitude and look, and thought that she was not American, even though she was born in Rosedale and grew up in Jackson Heights, both in Queens, New York City. They asked her manager if she could play an American.^[5] Bach has 28 films to her credit. She was featured in a pictorial in Playboy in January 1981. She also had a cameo in a September 1987 special issue on the Bond girls.^{[citation needed]}

Charity work[]

In 1991, Bach co-founded the Self Help Addiction Recovery Program (SHARP) with Pattie Boyd, the former wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton,^[6] both of whom assisted in the venture.^[7] Bach and Ringo Starr created The Lotus Foundation, a charity with many sub-charities.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[]

Bach's first marriage was to Italian businessman Augusto, Count Gregorini di Savignano di Romagna. The couple had two children together, daughter Francesca and son Gianni, before divorcing in 1975.^[4] Bach married British musician Ringo Starr, formerly of The Beatles, at Marylebone Town Hall on 27 April 1981.^[8][9] The two met in 1980, on the set of the film Caveman (1981).^[4]

Bach struggled with alcoholism and heavy drug use in her past, and along with her husband, checked into a rehab in 1988 for four weeks. The couple have remained sober ever since.^[10]

According to the International Vegetarian Union, Bach and Starr practice vegetarianism.^[11]

She is fluent in Italian and has a working knowledge of French and Spanish.^[5]

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Barbara Bach at IMDb