Bond girl: Helga Brandt

Bond girl: Helga Brandt

Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq LLC

007 Film: You Only Live Twice (1967)

Actress: Karin Dor

Bond connection: Helga Brandt is the personal secretary to Japanese industrialist Mr. Osato and a member of the criminal organization, SPECTRE. This sexy young red-haired German woman works for Mr. Osato as a secretary in her position as SPECTRE agent number 11, consequently she is given all the ‘dirty work’ by Osato. An expert in torture using plastic surgeons tools, Bond is spared the integration when she stupidly decides to have a bit of pleasure for herself before she gets down to work for her demanding superiors. However, she seems to be a quite conscientious and devoted henchwoman in her thankless daily work for her bosses as an assistant, a secretary, a pilot, a waitress and a hit-woman. She almost succeeds in killing James Bond, but when she finally fails and due to her low rank in the hierarchy, Blofeld shows not an ounce of leniency toward her and she has to pay it with her life with one of the worst and painful death in a Bond movie.

Blofeld decides to give Osato a last chance but to punish Helga by killing her in a very nasty way, as a warning for Osato. Ordering the ashamed redhead to leave, he initially allows her to believe that he is going to let her live too, but then presses a hidden foot pedal, causing the walkway under Brandt to collapse and plunges her into a pool full of pet piranha fish. The poor girl vainly call for help but is quickly pulled under and screams out with pain as she is eaten alive and stripped to the bone from head to toe in a few seconds, intimidating Osato and the two Red Chinese who witness the horrible death. Bond apparently remains unaware of her terrible fate as she is never mentioned again in the film after her death.

See more BOND GIRLS AND OTHER LADIES IN 007 FILMS here