Maryam d'Abo stars with Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights (1987)

Maryam d'Abo is a beautiful English actress who is well-known for her portrayal of James Bond girl Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights (1987).

d’Abo was born in London, England on December 27th 1960, and grew up in Paris, France and Geneva, Switzerland. She has had many roles in television and cinema since the early 1980s.

Maryam d'Abo appeared in a variety of movies and television series before landing the coveted role of Kara Milovy in the 1987 James Bond movie The Living Daylights.

The film gave d’Abo’s career a major boost and she soon found leading roles in many movies, including Nightlife (1989), Immortal Sins (1991), Money (1991), Shootfighter: Fight to the Death (1992), Tropical Heat (1993), Stalked (1994), and Double Obsession (1994).

In 2002, Maryam d'Abo hosted the television documentary Bond Girls Are Forever. The documentary, also written and produced by d’Abo, features interviews with many of the James Bond girls from the film series including Ursula Andress, Luciana Paluzzi, Jane Seymour, Maud Adams, Rosamund Pike and Judi Dench.

Maryam d'Abo has had roles in the following popular films:

• Dorian Gray (2009)
• Hell (2005)
• The Browning Version (1994)
• The Living Daylights (1987)
• White Nights (1985)

In addition to Bond Girls Are Forever, d’Abo co-authored a book of the same name with John Cork which was released in 2003. The book details the history of the 007 women, honouring the revolutionary character as a cinematic triumph.

In 2003, Maryam d'Abo married English film director Hugh Hudson. She continues to appear in a variety of roles in theatre, television and cinema, and enjoys making guest appearances at James Bond signings and exhibitions.

Some of Maryam d'Abo’s television performances include:

• Helen of Troy (2003)
• Doctor Zhivago (2002)
• Space Precinct (1995)
• Tales From the Crypt (1993)
• Murder, She Wrote (1992)
• Chillers (1990)
• Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1990)
• Something Is Out There (1988)
• The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1988)
• les idiots (1987)
• If Tomorrow Comes (1986)
• Master of the Game (1984)

Maryam d'Abo was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in 2007 and successfully recovered from the resulting surgery. She has spoken to other victims which motivated her to create a documentary on people who have endured vascular brain illnesses.

Maryam d'Abo works with top modelling agency Models 1.

In March 2011 d'Abo attended the Birds Eye View Film Festival at the BFI Southbank in London, United Kingdom.

Kara Milovy

The gorgeous leading James Bond girl in The Living Daylights is cellist and KGB spy Kara Milovy. She is the Czechoslovakian girlfriend of the devious KGB General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé).

In order for Koskov to make a genuine defection to Britain he instructs Kara to act as a sniper. When Koskov leaves a theatre during a concert interval in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, Kara is to fire blank bullets at him. However, James Bond, who is on hand to take out any assassins, realises she is a novice and shoots the rifle from her hands.

Agent 007 is then required to find out more information on the mysterious Kara Milovy who is known to be a cellist at the Bratislava Conservatoire. Bond follows Kara on a tram and watches as she is harassed by KGB operatives. He later meets Kara at her Bratislava apartment and makes her believe he is a friend of Koskov.

Together they leave Czechoslovakia and make a dramatic escape to Austria in Bond’s car, the impressive Aston Martin V8 Vantage. In Vienna, Kara and 007 share a romantic break that includes a horse carriage ride, a night at the opera, and a tender moment on the Wiener Riesenrad (Ferris wheel).

Bond soon finds out that arms dealer Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker) has purchased Kara’s expensive Stradivarius cello, and believes there must be a connection between Whitaker and Koskov. The pair then travel to Tangier, Morocco, where Koskov informs Kara that 007 is a KGB agent.

Kara Milovy subsequently drugs James Bond, but not before he tells her he is a British agent and that Koskov had set her up to be killed. Bond is taken prisoner and travels with Koskov and Kara to a Russian air base in Afghanistan. On arrival Koskov betrays Kara and has her imprisoned with Bond.

However, 007 uses a nifty key chain from Q Branch that knocks out the guards with stun gas. They flee with Kamran Shah (Art Malik), leader of a band of mujahideen guerrillas, and return to make a surprise attack on Koskov’s opium shipment at the air base.

Kara Milovy ably assists James Bond by flying the hijacked cargo aircraft while he defuses a bomb. After 007 takes care of Koskov’s villain, Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), and deactivates the bomb, Kara and Bond make a miraculous escape from the fuel starved plane.

At Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace Kara performs with her cello in an orchestra to a large audience that includes General Gogol (Walter Gotell) and M (Robert Brown). Afterward, Bond surprises Kara in her dressing room with champagne and a passionate embrace.

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