James Bond actor breaks 60-year silence to claim Dr No director sexually assaulted her

By ITV News Content Producer Alex Binley

James Bond actress Marguerite LeWars has broken her silence of 60 years to claim she was sexually assaulted by the film's director, Terence Young.

Speaking on the Really007 podcast to celebrate six decades of Bond, the 82-year-old who played Annabel Chung - a photographer employed by Dr Julius No to spy on Sean Connery's 007 - recounted to the hosts how Young repeatedly grabbed her in a limousine.

LeWars said Young, who was then in his late 40s, invited her to travel with him to Dr No's wrap party in a limousine.

She told the hosts how Young told her to sit in the back, where he joined her, and then "Sean came in with Ursula Andress [who played love interest Honey Ryder], they were going to the wrap party too.

"Terence Young leaned over and whispered in Sean's ear and Sean looked at me with a kind of surprised look on his face and turned to Ursula and they both got out of the car and closed the door."

Listen to Unscripted, the arts and entertainment podcast from ITV News

LeWars, who was then just 22 and a former Miss Jamaica, then recounted that to get to the beach party you had to drive down a "long, dark, windy road" and "I'm sorry to say Terence became aggressively making a pass at me.

"It was more than a pass, he actually grabbed me in various places.

"I was so shocked I slapped him across his face, but that didn't stop him, he did it again, I slapped him a second time and... said to him: 'I will seriously hurt you if you touch me again and I will jump out of this car and if I'm found dead on this road - because it was a very lonely road - it will be your fault.'

"He said: 'Don't you know who I am?'

"Those words really annoyed me.

"I said: 'I do know who you are.'

"He said: 'I will cut you out of the film. I will cut you out of Dr No.'

"And I said: 'Go ahead and cut me out Mr Young because you've already paid me, so cut me out.'"

Two months after the incident, LeWars said Young - who died in 1994 - phoned her from London.

"He didn't apologise he just said: 'Marguerite, we need you to come over here to dub at Pinewood studios. We'll send a ticket for you.'

"I said: 'I'm not coming.'"

And again Young threatened to cut her out of the film, to which she said she replied: "'I told you you could cut me out. I told you I'm not coming I want nothing more to do with you.'

"He said: 'Well it's not going to be your voice.'

"So I said: 'Well find somebody's else's voice' and I hung up the phone."

LeWars said this is the real reason why her voice has been dubbed over in Dr No.

She also told the hosts how Young met her while she was working in Kingston Airport and asked her to be in the then-unheard of James Bond films, telling Le Wars: "I'm going to make a series of movies and that will become the most famous in the whole world and they will last for years."

LeWars said she thought nothing of it until three months later Young returned to the airport with a bottle of Miss Dior perfume for her and offered her a contract.

She declined both but did go along to a script reading where she declined the role of Miss Taro as she didn't want to act out intimate scenes, and instead read the lines of Annabel Chung and was offered the part.

LeWars said she had kept silent for 60 years as she "didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings".

Thomas Pickup, one of the hosts of the podcast, said he believes LeWars has "finally decided because of Me Too she felt she could speak out and people would believe her".

Speaking about the movement on Really007, LeWars said she felt she was able to stop Terence Young "because I didn't want to get into the movie world" but others who "want to achieve to the top, they keep it silent".

Pickup praised LeWars' "brave" and "courageous" decision to break her silence, but believes the alleged sexual assault "must have affected her in other ways. She likely stayed in Jamaica and didn't pursue an acting career."

"She could have been a famous actress," he added.