UNK SEZ: CAROLINE MUNRO turned 60 yesterday and our pal FatherOfTears wants to celebrate and wish her well, take it away Father…
Yes, the British actress who was in such memorable movies as DRACULA AD 1972, CAPTAIN KRONUS: VAMPIRE HUNTER, MANIAC, SLAUGHTER HIGH and many others turns the big 6-0! CAROLINE first started out as a model, had a few bit parts in some late '60s movies and became the face for Lamb's Navy Rum for a ten year period. This got her noticed and she was cast as the dead wife of Dr. Phibes in the two VINCENT PRICE DOCTOR PHIBES movies. Yep, she played a stiff which meant she had to-um-play dead in her scenes. Not so easy as she was allergic to the feather boa she had to wear causing her to sneeze at times and requiring some scenes to be reshot! Soon she signed a "long term" contract with HAMMER FILMS (one year). She did DRACULA AD 1972 but she turned down DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE, FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL and an unmade VAMPIRELLA movie as they contained nudity. She would do CAPTAIN KRONUS which is a personal favorite of mine. The movie's writer, BRIAN CLEMONS of THE AVENGERS (T.V. show) fame then got her the big break by having her cast in THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD as Margiana, the slave girl.
THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD was my first CAROLINE MUNRO film as I saw this movie in a theater in the mid-'70,s at the age of 7. Now, at that time I was more interested in the stop motion monsters that were used in the movie but that would soon change. SINBAD would give her other big roles including AT THE EARTH'S CORE (Which probably provided kindertraumas for some with the pig faced half human creatures who "talked" by making grunting/barking sounds) with PETER CUSHING & DOUG MAcCLURE plus she had a guest starring role in THE NEW AVENGERS episode "The Angel of Death" complete with her getting into a fight with Purdey. In the late '70s she would get her biggest role as Naomi the helicopter pilot in the James Bond Film THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. To be in that film she turned down another big-time offer: To be Ursa in the late 70's SUPERMAN movie! Imagine if she did that and the sequel instead of SARAH DOUGLAS!
However, not everything she did was pure gold. She took the lead role in the badly done sci-fi movie STARCRASH (How MST3K missed this, I don't know). She would also do some "slasher films" in the 1980's with MANIAC, THE LAST HORROR FILM and SLAUGHTER HIGH. This would help getting her the "Scream Queen" tag. She would also have a singing career plus she would be featured in ADAM ANT's video of "Goody Two Shoes" as the reporter (and a possible Sarah Palin prototype!) There was also talk of having her be in a proposed but never filmed DOCTOR WHO movie as the Doctor's companion…which is when I learned her name!
By the '90s CAROLINE would cut back on her work to spend more time with her family (but she would have a role in the film TO DIE FOR). She has done some T.V. interviews about horror films plus she can be found at an occasional comic book/sci-fi fan gatherings held across the globe signing autographs.
So let's celebrate CAROLINE's milestone birthday. Watch CAPTAIN KRONOS, MANIAC or THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD on DVD or watch, and perhaps laugh, at her video performance in "Goody Two Shoes." Hell, if you have that MST3K "Shadowrama" sticker that sticks to T.V.s, stick it on your T.V. screen and riff STARCRASH.
They screened Starcrash at the Egyptian here in Los Angeles and Caroline was there! I went into the bathroom at one point and she was in there doing her makeup. She said "Hi!" and I was so taken aback and in awe. I don't think I really answered.
She was awesome during the Q&A, very funny and smart. I love her!
Someone asked her about Joe Spinell, btw, and she said, "Joe!" They obviously liked working together.
Man, they do not make 'em like her anymore.
So that's who the glasses babe was in the Goody Two Shoes video! I never made the connection. By the end she looks like she could devour Adam Ant for lunch and have another androgynous 80s rocker for a snack. 😀
As a side note, I am mildly astonished by the way Adam Ant could get dressed and make it more lascivious than stripping.