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Gloria Hendry grew up in New Jersey in a chaotic household. Determined to get away from her alcoholic and abusive step-father, she wanted to become a lawyer. But her white guidance counsellor told her that was unrealistic for an African American girl from a poor neighbourhood. So she became a legal secretary at the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in 1960鈥檚 New York.

But Gloria tired of living with the constant threats that came with her work and one day saw an advert for a job with the new Playboy club. They were looking to hire hostesses, or 鈥楤unnies,鈥� and would pay much more than her secretarial work. Gloria became a Playboy Bunny and soon after began working in Blaxploitation movies. Then one day she got a call to audition to be in the next James Bond movie, Live And Let Die. She made cinema history as the first African American woman to be romantically linked to 007 on screen.

She鈥檚 written a memoir about her life: Gloria Hendry, 007 Bond, Bunny and Black Renaissance 鈥淚FM鈥�.

Film Clips: Black Belt Jones, Savage Sisters, Hell Up in Harlem, Live and Let Die, owned by MGM

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Sarah Kendal

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp 44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Gloria Hendry at Heroes and Legends Awards. Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images