Jill St John (Actor)

Jill St. John at the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon And Family Expo Kickoff. (Photo: Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images)

Vibrant, personable redhead who debuted onstage at age five, followed with radio's "One Man's Family" for six years, and racked up over 1000 radio and 50 TV credits by the time she was 16. St. John moved into features in the late 1950s and for the next decade was, like Ann-Margret, Tuesday Weld and many others, frequently typecast in sexpot roles in light comedies and adventures. Despite her fresh, good-humored and relaxed presence, St. John frequently played second fiddle to other actresses. In "Come Blow Your Horn" (1963) it was Barbara Rush, and in "The Oscar" (1966) Elke Sommer. Exceptions included the zany Frank Tashlin-Jerry Lewis farce "Who's Minding the Store?" (1963) and "Tony Rome" (1967), a vehicle for an aging Frank Sinatra aiming to cash in on the James Bond craze.

The latter film may have pointed St. John in the right direction, for one of her most popular and enjoyable films, "Diamonds Are Forever", followed in 1971, with St. John proving herself one of the very best of the many "Bond girls". Her feature career did not pick up, however, and one of her last sizable roles cast her in middle age as a stern prison warden in "The Concrete Jungle" (1982). TV served her better: she was one of Bob Hope's most frequent guest stars, appearing on 11 of his specials between 1967 and 1983; she contributed human interests spots to "Good Morning, America" for a time; and her many TV-movies and miniseries included "Brenda Starr" (1976), "Rooster" (1982), and "Around the World in 80 Days" (1989). Married her longtime companion, actor Robert Wagner, in 1990.