Caroline Munro Biography
Caroline Munro is an English actress, model, and singer who rose to fame for her work in the horror, science fiction, and action films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Born on January 16, 1949, Caroline Munro’s career began in 1966, when her mother and a photographer friend entered some headshots of her in The Evening News’s “Face of the Year” contest. This led to modeling work for Vogue magazine at the age of 17.
Moving to London to pursue her modeling career, Munro soon became a cover girl for fashion and television advertisements. She had bit parts in films such as Casino Royale (1967) and Where’s Jack? (1969). One of her photo advertisements led to a screen test and a one-year contract with Paramount where she was cast as Richard Widmark’s daughter in the comedy western A Talent for Loving (also 1969).
Munro’s first major film role was in the Hammer horror film Dracula AD 1972 (1972) alongside Live and Let Die villain Christopher Lee. The film marked a turning point in her career, as she became a fully-fledged actress. Munro went on to appear in several other Hammer horror films, including Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter (1974) and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), in which she played the role of Margiana, the slave girl.
Munro also starred in James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Bond villain Karl Stromberg‘s crazed personal pilot, Naomi. Caroline Munro turned down several lead roles in Hammer’s films that required nudity, including Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), and Vampirella, which was never made. However, she continued to thrive in the 1980s, appearing in many slasher and Eurotrash productions. She also appeared in music videos for Adam Ant’s Goody Two Shoes (1982) and Meat Loaf’s If You Really Want To (1983).
In addition to her film career, Munro had a brief music career. She released several singles, including Tar and Cement and You Got It, and collaborated with Gary Numan on the single Pump Me Up in 1984. In the 1980s Munro enjoyed an extended run in the classic TV family show 3-2-1.
After her film roles were confined to performing cameos as herself in the 1990s, Munro returned to the horror genre in House of the Gorgon (2018), where she re-teamed with her Dracula AD 1972 co-star Christopher Neame.
In 2021, Caroline Munro started presenting Talking Pictures TV’s exclusive series The Cellar Club, in which she introduces celebrated and obscure horror films from her Cellar Club and gives her personal, insider perspective.
Caroline Munro has been married twice. Her first marriage was to Judd Hamilton on 23 March 1970, but they eventually got divorced in 1982. Her second marriage was to George Dugdale in 1990, and they remained married until George’s death on 14 January 2020. During their second marriage, the couple had two children together.
