FOXXY FRIDAYS...GLORIA HENDRY

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Today for Foxxy Friday I am going to profile someone who is not as well known to the general public but is a trailblazer in her own right. This Friday I'm paying homage to Miss GLORIA HENDRY!

Gloria Hendry was born March 3, 1949 in Winter Haven, Florida, and raised in Newark, New Jersey.

She originally trained for a career as a legal secretary, but changed careers after becoming a Playboy Bunny in the early 60s. She began her acting career in the 1968 film For Love of Ivy, with Sidney Poitier & Abbey Lincoln.

She is perhaps best known for portraying the Bond girl, Rosie Carver in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. In that film, she became the first Black woman romantically involved with 007 (Just think, Halle Berry wasn't the first one!). When the film was first released in South Africa, her love scenes with costar Roger Moore were cut out because it was prohibited by the Apartheid government. We've come a long way haven't we?

She later starred in several 1970's Blaxploitation films, including Savage Sisters, Black Caesar (one of my all time favorite movies), as Fred Williamson's girlfriend Helen, and its sequel, Hell Up in Harlem. She also portrayed the martial arts expert Sydney in Black Belt Jones, starring the legendary Jim Kelly. (WARNING: Once you get past the dated dialogue it's really not that bad!)

Gloria appeared in episodic television, but didn't gain the same popularity as contemporaries such as Pam Grier & others. She is currently working on her memoirs entitled, “GLORIA BOND AND ALL, and is a vocalist who is currently on tour. You can check out her website, www.gloriahendry.com .

Foxxy Friday honors Gloria Hendry for blazing the trail for today's actresses, she is definitely one you should remember.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

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