Honor Blackman (born 22 August 1925) is an English actress, who is perhaps best known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962-64) and as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964) . Bond film supremo Albert R . Broccoli admitted that Blackman had been cast on the back of her success in The Avengers, despite the fact that the American audience had never even seen the programme . Broccoli said, "The Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs . Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination" . Blackman was the first and one of two "Bond girls" older than the actor playing James Bond, and at 39 she was the oldest actress ever to play a Bond girl . In a 1965 episode of The Avengers, titled "Too Many Christmas Trees", John Steed received his Christmas cards, one of which was from Cathy . "A card from Mrs Gale!", Steed exclaims in delight . Then, reading the inscription, he says in a puzzled voice, "Whatever can she be doing at Fort Knox . . .?" . It was an inside joke, as Blackman was filming Goldfinger at the time . In 1986, she had a role in the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord. From 1990 to 1996 she appeared as Laura West on The Upper Hand. Blackman took a guest role on Midsomer Murders as ex-racing driver Isobel Hewitt in the episode A Talent for Life. In September 2004, she briefly joined the Coronation Street cast in a storyline about wife swapping. A song she recorded with Patrick Macnee during 1964, "Kinky Boots", was a surprise hit, peaking at #5 in 1990 after it was played incessantly by BBC Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Simon Mayo. After her appearance in Goldfinger, Blackman recorded a full album of songs, "Everything I've Got". On 6 July 2009 Blackman released a new single "The Star Who Fell from Grace" composed by Jeff Chegwin and Adrian Munsey and during the summer will be compering an all-new James Bond Prom as part of the "Welsh Proms" concert series. .