Barbara Bouchet

Barbara Bouchet
Bouchet in 2006
Born	Bärbel Gutscher (1943-08-15) 15 August 1943 (age 81)[1] Reichenberg, Sudetenland, Nazi Germany (present-day Czech Republic)
Occupations	Actress dancer
Years active	1959–present
Spouse	Luigi Borghese ​ ​ (m. 1974; sep 2006)​
Children	2, including Alessandro Borghese

Barbara Bouchet (born Bärbel Gutscher; 15 August 1943)^[2][3] is a German-born actress, dancer, and model, active in the United States and Italy. She is regarded as a sex symbol in genre films of the 1960's and '70s.^[4]

Born in German-occupied Czechosovakia, Bouchet's family emigrated to the United States after the Second World War. She began her acting career in the in the '60s, appearing in small roles in films such as In Harm's Way and guest parts on television series such as Star Trek and The Virginian. She had more prominent film roles in Casino Royale (1967), in which she played Miss Moneypenny,^[1] and Sweet Charity (1969).

Bouchet moved to Italy in the 1970's, becoming an Italian citizen and starring in a large number of genre films, including thrillers (gialli), crime films (poliziotteschi), and sex comedies (commedia sexy all'italiana).^[1] Her best known appearances in Italian cinema include the films Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972) and Caliber 9 (1972).

Bouchet effectively retired from acting in the early 1980s, transitioning to a career producing fitness videos and books and opening a gym in Rome. She has since made some further appearances acting in film and television, including a small role in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002).

Bärbel Gutscher was born in Reichenberg, Sudetenland, in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (today Liberec in the Czech Republic). She had four siblings.^[5] Her father, Fritz, was a photographer, and her mother, Ingrid, was an actress.^[1]

After World War II, her family was placed in a resettlement camp in the American occupation zone in Germany. They were granted permission to emigrate to the United States under the humanitarian provisions of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948.^[6]

After arriving in the United States, the family lived in Five Points, California on the west side of the Central Valley and eventually settled in San Francisco, where Gutscher was raised. During the early 1960s San Francisco Bay Area television station KPIX-TV ran a show named The KPIX Dance Party and offered Gutscher the opportunity to become a member of the show's dance group.^[7]

Bouchet began her career modelling for magazine covers and appearing in television commercials, before eventually becoming an actress. Her first acting role was a minor part in What a Way to Go! (1964), which led to a series of other roles in the 1960s. She appeared in the films John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1964), In Harm's Way (1964), and Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966).

She appeared, semi-nude, in two editions of Playboy magazine: May 1965 (stills from In Harm's Way) and February 1967 ("The Girls of Casino Royale").^[8]

In Casino Royale (1967), Bouchet played the role of Miss Moneypenny. She guest-starred in the Star Trek episode "By Any Other Name" (1968) as Kelinda, and appeared in the musical film Sweet Charity (1969) playing Ursula.

Bouchet began acting in Italian films, such as Black Belly of the Tarantula, Amuck!, The Man with Icy Eyes, The French Sex Murders, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Don't Torture a Duckling and Sex with a Smile.

She starred with Gregory Peck in The Scarlet and The Black (1983). In 1985, she established a production company and started to produce a series of fitness books and videos. In addition, Bouchet opened a fitness studio in Rome. In 2002, Bouchet appeared in Gangs of New York, playing Mrs. Schermerhorn.

In 1974, Bouchet married Luigi Borghese, a producer, with whom she has two sons: Alessandro, a TV chef, and Massimiliano, a bartender. Her husband subsequently produced some of her later films. They separated in 2006, citing different aspirations.^[9]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barbara Bouchet.

• Barbara Bouchet at IMDb
• Barbara Bouchet at the TCM Movie Database
• Barbara Bouchet fansite