Barbara Bach, famously known as the Bond girl Triple X, didn’t fit the typical damsel in distress archetype often associated with the spy genre.
Instead, she was on a quest to find her own rock ‘n’ roll hero, Sir Richard Starkey, popularly known as Ringo Starr.
At the pinnacle of her career, the now 75-year-old Bach, who started as a model before transitioning into acting, portrayed the love interest and potential rival of Roger Moore’s womanizing James Bond in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me.
Bach once referred to Bond as “a chauvinist pig who uses girls to shield him against bullets,” as documented in a People article from 1983.
Moore shared similar sentiments, stating in a 1973 People interview, the same year he starred in his inaugural Bond film, Live and Let Die, that “Bond, like myself, is a male chauvinist pig.” He humorously added, “I’ve spent my entire life trying to free women from their underwear and brassieres.”
Before gracing the screens as a Bond girl, Bach had roles in Italian cinema, including appearing in the 1971 Italian murder-mystery film Black Belly of the Tarantula alongside two other Bond Girls, Claudine Auger from Thunderball (1965) and Barbara Bouchet from Casino Royale (1967).
Bach’s memorable portrayal as a Bond girl solidified her status as a fan favorite and kickstarted her acting journey.
She starred as Major Anya Amasova in Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy, a 1980 film directed by Robert Downey Sr., and appeared in the 1981 slapstick comedy Caveman alongside Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, and the now 82-year-old Ringo Starr.
In Caveman, Starr played a primitive character who ultimately chooses a different partner over Bach’s character Lana.
However, reality didn’t mirror the screenplay. Bach and Starr’s love story began when they met while traveling from Los Angeles to Mexico for the filming of Caveman.
In a 1981 Playboy feature (as cited in People), Bach debunked misconceptions about their relationship, stating, “A lot of garbage has been written about us, none of it interesting.” She clarified that their romance blossomed towards the end of filming Caveman, evolving from friendly affection to genuine love.
Reflecting on their enduring relationship, Starr expressed his admiration for Bach, whom he married almost four decades ago, in a 2021 interview with the Irish Examiner.
“I adore the female. Since the day I spotted her at LAX in 1980, I have adored her,” Starr gushed. “All I can say is that I’m grateful that she’s in my life.”
Ringo Starr, The Beatles’ drummer, and Barbara Bach, the former Bond girl, have remained inseparable since their marriage in 1981. With Starr having three children with Maureen Cox and Bach having two with her former husband, Augusto Gregorini, they’ve created a blended family united by love and music.
