Melina Havelock

Melina Havelock: The Spirited Bond Girl with a Passion for Vengeance

Melina Havelock is the daughter of renowned British marine archaeologist, Sir Timothy Havelock, and his wife, Iona. As a love interest of the legendary spy James Bond, she has cemented her place in the hearts of fans worldwide.

First introduced in Ian Fleming’s short story For Your Eyes Only, which is part of an eponymous anthology, Melina’s character was originally named Judy Havelock. However, when the story was adapted into the 1981 James Bond film, she was rechristened as Melina and brought to life by the stunning French actress and model, Carole Bouquet.

Melina Havelock’s intriguing journey doesn’t end with her cinematic debut, as she continued to appear in various forms of media. Her character was featured in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the film.

Kraken

Additionally, Melina Havelock was incorporated into the tabletop role-playing games with the release of James Bond 007: Role-Playing Game In Her Majesty’s Secret Service from 1983-87.

Melina Havelock

Melina Havelock is the only child of Iona and Sir Timothy Havelock, both agents of the British Secret Service. She joins them in their mission, assigned by the British Secret Service, to examine the sinking of the electronic surveillance ship St. Georges and retrieve the ATAC (Automatic Targeting and Attack Communicator) transmitter, a crucial device for controlling the Polaris nuclear submarine fleet.

Tragically, Melina’s parents are killed off the coast of Greece while she’s visiting them on their yacht, the Triana. Devastated by their loss, the young woman vows to avenge their deaths.

Melina Havelock

With the help of a private detective agency, Melina identifies the killer as Cuban hitman Hector Gonzales and tracks him down to his villa near Madrid, Spain. She assassinates Gonzales with a crossbow as he’s about to dive into his swimming pool.

Bond is at the scene, investigating the Havelocks’ murder, and he escapes with Melina in her Citroën 2CV rental car. After spotting Emile Locque paying Gonzales, Melina decides to continue her quest for vengeance, despite Bond’s warnings.

Melina heads to Cortina after receiving a fraudulent telegram claiming that Bond has found her parents’ murderer and instructing her to meet him there. Bond spots her just in time, saving her from being run over by two Yamaha motorcycles.

Eventually, he convinces Melina to return to the Triana, off the coast of Corfu while he conducts the investigation. Reluctantly, she agrees but only for a short time.

Bond kills Locque and goes to visit Melina, where she’s Melina working on an underwater ruin her father had been restoring. After examining her father’s logs, Melina shares information about a shipwreck Sir Timothy Havelock had discovered.

Bond and Melina journey underwater to the St. Georges wreck, situated at a depth of over 500 meters, using their two-person submarine, Neptune. As they disarm the ATAC on the St. Georges, Melina’s oxygen pipe is severed during a struggle with someone in a JIM diving suit. She hurries back to the vessel while Bond deals with the imposter.

Then after defeating a Mantis submarine deployed by Aristotle Kristatos, the man who had hired Gonzales to murder the Havelocks, Bond and Melina resurface. They find Kristatos waiting on the Triana, and he takes the ATAC from them.

Kristatos then ties Bond and Melina to a tow rope and throw them in the sea intending to drag them along and drown them, but after some swift skills by Bond they manage to free themselves. Bond and Melina then join forces with Milos Columbo to track down Kristatos at his mountain hideout and reclaim the ATAC.

For Your Eyes Only

When they finally apprehend Kristatos, Melina Havelock wants to kill him, but Bond tries to dissuade her, arguing that she would be no better than Kristatos if she took his life. Ultimately, the decision becomes moot, as Columbo kills Kristatos with a knife.

Following these events, Bond and Melina return to the Havelock family yacht, where Melina suggests a moonlight swim. They undress each other and enjoy a skinny-dipping session together.

Carole Bouquet

Carole Bouquet, a renowned French actress, with a filmography spanning over four decades and featuring more than 50 films and TV shows, she has garnered multiple awards, including two César Awards.

Her acting career started in the late 1970s with the TV miniseries La famille Cigale, followed by her feature film debut in Luis Buñuel’s surrealist masterpiece, That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). This critically acclaimed performance helped catapult Bouquet into the spotlight as a promising actress.

Bouquet shot to international fame in 1981 when she starred as Bond girl Melina Havelock in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, alongside Roger Moore, who was older than her father. This commercially successful film solidified her position as a distinguished actress in both French and international cinema.

In addition to her acting pursuits, Carole Bouquet modeled for the esteemed French fashion label Chanel in the 1980s, becoming the face of Chanel No. 5 fragrance from 1986 to 1997. Embracing her entrepreneurial spirit, Bouquet launched her own winery, Maison Carole Bouquet, on the island of Pantelleria in the Strait of Sicily in 2005.