Margaret Nolan starred in the Carry Ons.
She was the woman beneath the golden paint in Goldfinger.
I went and lived in the mountains in Spain.
In 1990 I bought my house, and thats it Ive been up there.
I only came back this year, actually.
Did you enjoy the ex-pat life?
I lived in a self-sufficient farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.
It was nothing to do with the Costa Del Sol.
It was to do with my passion, which is Permaculture.Whats that?
(I did).
Your apparent disappearance caused increased interest in you and your icon-status…
Yeah.
Were you asked to do commentaries and interviews, what with the resurgent interest in Carry On?
I didnt even have a computer, so I havent known until recently whats been going on at all.
Where did they write to that the letters actually reached you?
Either there or Equity.
Well thats been only in the last five years, but yes, exactly.
Theres a very clear recognition of your own iconic status in your montages.
Are you relatively comfortable with that very sexy image that youre best known for?
Absolutely, because I do sort of take the piss out of it as well.
I really think it says it all.
As an actress, you send out portraits.
And from that work came more work and more work, and I just didnt stop at all.
Some of them were by very famous photographers.
I only used the photos that were relevant in the photomontages.
And its gone back to that now.
My favourite is actually the one with just the hair, called Fallen Dreams.
There is a wonderful sense of space but consequently also a sense of isolation in your montages.
And theres this kind of passive look, which is part of what it was like in the sixties.
The idea was really to just look beautiful…and passive, the way men liked you to look.
So a lot of them are very sexually explicit as well.
So thanks for appreciating them Im really happy about them.
Hopefully next week theyll be hanging.
I love being an artist I feel much more in control of my life.
Did you feel that disconnect back then?
Was Spain a refuge from all that attention?
I think it probably was.
I only modelled for about a year.
And thats it, thats what mainly comes up but I understand.
Now its much easier to say its all okay and its all in the past.
People do it a lot more now.
The theatrical work youre most proud of is very hard to record in the same way.
The ones that come up on telly, yeah.
Not very many of those either apparently the BBC has lost or deleted loads and loads of the stuff.
All the Milligan stuff has gone.
I know, I know, all gone.
It was such good fun.
Actually, I have got some photos.
Yes, Im sure thats true, but it did change.
Whereas in England they would always be described either as a dumb blonde or a nice bit of fluff.
I played the wife of one of the sons, and that was a lovely part.
That wasThirty Minute Theatre, if I remember rightly.
And the seriesThe Newcomersalso went out live.
Live TV seems unimaginably intimidating..?
I know, it was strange.
I didnt mind it, because I liked doing theatre anyway.
Its scary but if you really focus, youre away.
And Its a very nice feeling that its going out live, actually.
Ive done interviews on television and everything, and it never bothered me.
The Carry On films seem to be rising in cult status every year.
Is it a millstone or a boon for you?
It doesnt bother me at all, except that I want nothing to do with them.
They became multi-millionaires, both of them, Gerald Thomas the director and Peter Rogers the producer.
The most anybody ever earned on aCarry Onfilm was Sid James.
Do you know how much that was?
They were low budget films and we worked really hard in them.
Equity went to see them and they told them to fuck off.
And Ive got another story for you.
Charles Hawtrey, the very skinny one with the glasses oh!
The guy told me that in the Equity office, he said theres no point even trying.
But you just need the energy, and I dont know if I have it.
They were good fun though, and I loved doing them.Was it light relief to be involved with them?
And the more youre into the script, the more convincing youll be.
That was very unpopular at the time, I remember some of the vibes I got.
Do you think thats rather missing now?
I think its there, but its got to be eked out.
Are you interested in returning to acting?
Funny enough I have been offered a part.
And its based on me as a character [LAUGHS].
Ill let you know at a later stage.
So shes referred to as Dame Margaret Nolan.
Ill let you know more about it later.
Did it really take four months to film the Goldfinger title sequence?
No, it took a while though.
I earned so much money Id never earned so much money in my life.
It probably took two or three weeks.
Was that the two-year promotion deal that you turned down?
So they were quite pissed off because theyd already spent loads of money on me.
In a way, I might as well just have done it.
But Id probably have ended up marrying some awful big American movie guy and have been pissed off.
Ive had a more interesting life, probably!
Did you enjoy working with Sean Connery?
Yes I did, though I didnt spend a lot of time with him.
Is he the sexiest Bond?
I loved Sean Connery.
He was actually more interested in my sister, whos very much his punch in.
I remember he was very keen to dance with her!
But no, he was nice he used to give me a lift home in his Rolls Royce.
Could I ask you about the Q series?
Particularly as its appallingly been wiped.
He was adorable, as nutty as a fruitcake.
We used to have a great time.
It was so wonderful.
Ill never forget that.
Him and the old guy, Andrew Cruikshank, remember him…?I know the name…
He used to be Doctor Finlay.
I did aCrown Courtwith him.
Theres surely a market for your autobiography.
Can we expect that in the near future?
Ive thought about it.
I will when I get round to it, one day!
Very many thanks to Margaret for being so generous with her time.
Her photomontage work can be bought at her official website atwww.margaretnolan.co.uk
