Margaret Nolan

Margaret Ann Nolan[1] (29 October 1943 – 5 October 2020) was an English actress, visual artist and glamour model. She was best known for her appearances in Goldfinger, A Hard Day's Night and six Carry On films, and also regularly appeared on screen from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Margaret Nolan
Nolan in 2013
Born
Margaret Ann Nolan

(1943-10-29)29 October 1943
Hampstead, London, England
Died5 October 2020(2020-10-05) (aged 76)
Belsize Park, London, England
Other namesVicky Kennedy
OccupationVisual artist, actress
Years active1962–2019
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1967; div. 1972)​

Michael O’Sullivan
​
​
(m. 1974, divorced)​
Partner(s)Colin Deeks
(?-2020); (her death)
Children2

Early life

Nolan was born in Hampstead, London.[2] Her mother Molly was an English nurse and her father Jack was an Irish army clerk. They spent the duration of the Second World War in County Waterford in Ireland until the war ended in 1945 before returning to Hampstead. Nolan began training as a teacher but began dating Tom Kempinski, who was acting with the Royal National Theatre at the time, who persuaded her to begin a career in acting.

Career

Modelling career

Margaret Nolan began her career in front of a camera lens as a model. As her glamour modelling career took off, she was briefly known as Vicky Kennedy in the early 1960s.[3]

Acting career

Nolan reverted to her birth name as soon as acting roles beckoned; appearing in numerous television shows, theatre productions and films. The latter included A Hard Day's Night with the Beatles,[4] Ferry Cross the Mersey with Gerry and the Pacemakers,[5] and Marcel Carné's Three Rooms in Manhattan.[6] Nolan also appeared in one of the first episodes of the television spy thriller The Saint with Roger Moore.

In 1964, Nolan played the role of Dink, Bond's masseuse, in the James Bond film Goldfinger. She was also painted gold and wore a gold bikini for Robert Brownjohn's title-sequence, advertisements and soundtrack-cover (not Shirley Eaton as in the narrative of the film). This led to photographs in Playboy magazine's James Bond's Girls edition of November 1965. In the 1971 film Carry On at Your Convenience, composer Eric Rogers referenced Nolan's Goldfinger affiliation by using its three-note motif on a close-up of her. Nolan appeared on the front cover of both the US and UK versions of the 2005 book Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography.[7][8] In 2012, Nolan gave her first interview concerning her experiences as the model. Asked if the imagery liberates or celebrates womanhood, Nolan responded that:

It does celebrate the physical form. If I'd been nude it might have been about liberation because up to that point you wouldn't have seen a nude woman in a publicly visible thing like that. I could have been very pretentious and said this is liberating. But because I was dressed-up anyway I didn't get that sense.[9]

It became the first film-title to be shown in installation at MoMA, New York (2012).[10]

On appearing in Michael Pertwee's 1969 farce She's Done It Again at London's Garrick Theatre, Nolan was described as combining '...a long list of physical attractions with a talent that has contributed to the success of many films and television plays...'.[11] She was known for five BBC series with Spike Milligan and in 2013 published a short essay on her time working with him. Nolan gave a live reading of the work at the Poetry Society in Covent Garden, reviewed by What's On London as a "deeply-personal memoir... her performance simply magical."[12] She spoke of her awareness of Milligan's depressive character but also of their friendly working relationship; noting that "Professionally, he taught me that timing is what makes things funny. Timing is crucial..."[13] Nolan was given bigger roles in several 1970s Carry On films[4] – and most sizably Carry On Girls. The scene in Carry On Girls where a woman in a one-piece swim suit sneezes and bursts open two buttons on her outfit (revealing most of her breasts) is Nolan. The same film contains the sequence of Nolan (in a silver bikini) and Barbara Windsor cat-fighting on a hotel floor.[14]

Nolan also appeared in serious theatre, motivated by political themes.[2] In 2011, Nolan's work as a comedy actress was recognised with her name included on Gordon Young's Comedy Carpet installation in front of Blackpool Tower.[15] Also in 2011, Nolan returned to the screen after a gap of nearly three decades. She starred in a role especially written for her by Ann Cameron, in Yvonne Deutschman's The Power of Three.[4]

In 2019, Edgar Wright cast her in his upcoming 2021 film Last Night in Soho.[4]

Art career

In 1991, Nolan moved to Andalusia in Spain to a rural farmhouse in the mountains where she practiced permaculture. It was here that she became a visual artist.[4]

As a visual artist, Nolan produced graphic and sometimes grotesque photo-montages assembled from cut-outs of her early publicity photographs.[16] These pieces concern "a unique and personal dialogue intrinsically related to a view of a woman and how a woman is viewed."[17] She exhibited in London at venues including the Brick Lane Gallery (2009), The Misty Moon Gallery (2013) and Gallery Different (2013), whilst a screen-print is held by Kemistry Gallery.[18] In 2007, Nolan moved back to London.[19][20]

In 2009, early publicity shots of Nolan inspired screen-prints by Brighton-based graffiti artist Hutch.[21] Nolan's work in photo-montage was also selected for the front cover of Playerist poetry magazine (No. 2, 2012).[22] In 2013, her artworks featured in the group show equals: exploring feminism through art and conversation at Blankspace Manchester;[23] the press release quoting that: "Her voice carries alongside universal debate on socio-sexual hierarchies in the age of mass media."[24]

Personal life and death

Nolan was married to English playwright Tom Kempinski in 1967 and divorced in 1972. She had two sons.[25]

Nolan died of cancer on 5 October 2020 at her home in Belsize Park, London, at age 76, 3 weeks before her 77th birthday.[26][27][28] She had sought to write a memoir with Paul Stenning.[29]

Filmography

Nolan's acting career covers works in television and cinema.[30]

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1960VertigoVicki
1962One Track MindGirl
1964The Four PosterGirl
It's a Bare, Bare World!Vicki[3]
Saturday Night OutJulie
A Hard Day's NightGirl at Casino
The Beauty JungleCaroline
GoldfingerDink
Ferry Cross the MerseyNorah
1965Three Rooms in ManhattanJune
Carry On CowboyMiss Jones
1966Promise Her AnythingMail-Order Film Girl
The Great St Trinian's Train RobberySusie Naphill
1967Bikini ParadiseMargarita[31]
1968Witchfinder GeneralGirl at Inn
Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the RiverSpink's nurse
1969Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?Little Assistance
Crooks and CoronetsGirlfriend
The Best House in LondonBusty Prostitute
1970ToomorrowJohnson
1971Carry On HenryBuxom Lass
Carry On at Your ConveniencePopsy
1972FrenzyYoung Woman(scene cut)
Carry On MatronMrs. Tucker
1973No Sex Please, We're BritishBarbara
Carry On GirlsDawn Brakes
1974Carry On DickLady Daley
1983Positions of PowerElizabeth Nihell
1986Sky BanditsWaitress
2011The Power of ThreeDame Margaret[4]
2021Last Night in SohoTBAPosthumous release[4]

Television

Theatre

Fringe

  • Why Bournemouth? (1968)
  • It Has No Choice
  • A Minor Scene
  • Homo
  • Stimulation
  • Super Santa
  • How the Vote Was Won (1986)
  • Daughters of Men (1986)

Provincial

West End

  • The Giveaway (1969)
  • Adam's Apple (1970)
  • She's Done It Again (1970)

References
  1. "Search Results for England & Wales Marriages 1837-2005". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  2. "About me". The Official Margaret Nolan Website. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  3. "Margaret Nolan - actor, artist and Goldfinger title sequence star - dies aged 76". The Guardian. 12 October 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  4. "Margaret Nolan, 'A Hard Day's Night' actress, has died, aged 76". NME. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  5. "Ferry Cross The Mersey". TV Guide. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  6. AlloCine, Casting de Trois chambres à Manhattan (in French), retrieved 12 October 2020
  7. "Sign Design Society - Home". Signdesignsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  8. King, Emily (24 October 2005). Sex & Typography: Robert Brownjohn : 1925-1970, Life and Work. Laurence King Publishing. ISBN 185669464X. ASIN 185669464X.
  9. Playerist (2012:03) Margaret Nolan Interview Playerist No. 2
  10. "MoMA - Goldfinger: A Convergence at MoMA". Moma.org. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  11. Flink, S (1969:13) Margaret Nolan Garrick Theatre Playbill Volume 4 No. 11
  12. "Poetry Café: Playerist Comedy Night – Review - What's on London". Whats-on-london.co.uk. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  13. Nolan, M (2013) Room at the Top Playerist No. 3, p. 16
  14. Hunter, I. Q.; Porter, Laraine (2012). British Comedy Cinema. Routledge. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-415-66667-1.
  15. "Comedy Carpet - Comedians". Comedycarpet.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  16. "Margaret Nolan. Photomontages". Margaret Nolan Official Website. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  17. Playerist (2012:02) Margaret Nolan Interview Playerist No. 2
  18. "Margaret Nolan. Photomontage Exhibitions". Margaret Nolan Official Website. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  19. "Margaret Nolan Art". Facebook.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  20. "Margaret Nolan (@MaggieNolan007) - Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  21. "Dink". Flickr.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  22. "Playerist Poetry Magazine". Facebook.com. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  23. "equals: exploring feminism through art & conversation launches 11th July". Manchester’s Finest. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  24. BLANKSPACE, Manchester (2013:01 [Slidel, 2013]) equals: Press Release
  25. "Margaret Nolan obituary". The Times. 12 October 2020. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 October 2020. They divorced in 1972 and she is survived by their two sons, Oscar Deeks, a cinematographer, and Luke O'Sullivan.
  26. Mele, Christopher (12 October 2020). "Margaret Nolan, 'Goldfinger' Actress, Dies at 76". The New York Times.
  27. "Margaret Nolan, Goldfinger title sequence star, dies at 76". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  28. Shafer, Ellise (11 October 2020). "Margaret Nolan, 'Goldfinger' Model and Actress in 'A Hard Day's Night,' Dies at 76". Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  29. BBC Radio 5 interview with Dawn Dunlop, 2015
  30. The filmography section (unless otherwise stated) is supported by the following sources :
  31. "Bikini Paradise (1967) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  32. "Charlie Was a Rich Man (TV) (1981)". Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  33. Watkins, Mike (21 March 2013). "World Down Syndrome Day remembers Nina of Crossroads". ATV Today. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

Bibliography
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