The Bond Girl You Likely Forgot Starred In Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery
The James Bond franchise has been a staple of the action spy genre since the release of "Dr. No" in 1962. The story of the British secret agent James Bond, which was adapted from a series of novels by author Ian Fleming, has been commented on in many mediums, with a number of parodies and homages.
One of the best-known parodies of the James Bond franchise is the Austin Powers franchise. The first entry into the series was the 1997 film "Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery," which was written by Mike Myers (via IMDb). Along with writing, Myers also played the titular main character, as well as the principal villain, Dr. Evil, with a supporting cast that includes Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Seth Green, and Will Ferrell.
However, Myers didn't limit his parody/homage of the Bond franchise to the character tropes and general storyline. He also added a famous Bond Girl to the cast in a supporting role, a detail many have forgotten in the ensuing years. Here's the Bond Girl you likely forgot starred in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery."
The henchman's wife was a familiar face to Bond fans
In "Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery," the deceased henchman's wife is played by Lois Chiles, who is also known for playing Dr. Holly Goodhead in the 1979 James Bond film "Moonraker," opposite Roger Moore as Bond (via IMDb).
In the Austin Powers movie, Powers and Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) run over a henchman in Dr. Evil's lair with a steamroller. In an additional scene, the movie then cuts to a suburban house, where a woman, played by Chiles, is preparing food in the kitchen when the phone rings. As a child rides up to the house in a bicycle, the woman happily declares that her husband is a henchman in Dr. Evil's army as she looks over at a framed photograph of the henchman Powers runs over. Her expression and voice change to horror as she learns of his death, and she gently breaks the news to her son, who is distraught. As the mother hugs her son, she mournfully declares, "People never think how things affect the family of a henchman."
In "Moonraker," Dr. Goodhead is an astronaut working for Drax Industries, headed up by the film's villain Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), whom Bond meets in his visit to the facility. He runs into her again and subsequently realizes she's a CIA agent. The two join forces to take down Drax before he can kill the world's population with a nerve gas. Traveling into space, they successfully complete the mission, destroying Drax and the weaponized gas.