Cassandra Harris
(Countess Lisl)

Name: Cassandra Harris
Character: Countess Lisl
Movie: For Your Eyes Only
Date of Birth: ??/12/41
Place of Birth: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

A fake countess with a fake accent and a fake fortune, Countess Lisl, is supposed to be getting information out of Bond. Instead, he turns the table and finds out a good deal about the evil Kristatos before Lisl is ruthlessly killed by one of his hitmen.

Most memorable quote:
Lisl: Me nightie's slippin'.
Bond: So is your accent, Countess.

Biography

Australian actress Cassandra Harris was born Sandra Colleen Waites, the daughter of Walter (Wally) Waites, a builder, and Roma, a hairstylist. After her mother divorced and then remarried, Sandra took her stepfather's surname of Gleeson. She studied at Narrabeen High School in Avalon, Australia, then worked at a local estate agents before enrolling in Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. She met and married Bill Firth in 1964, but the pair soon divorced. Her first acting role was as an air-stewardess in a play called Boeing Boeing at the Palace Theatre in Sydney. She soon after landed a part in the Australian TV Show Beauty and the Beast and an early Bruce Beresford film, Five Days. By the late 60s, she left her native Australia to live in London and became known as Cassandra. There she met producer Dermot Harris and had two children with him (Charlotte and Christopher).

Her big break came when she was passing the stage door of the London Palladium. Sammy Davis Jr., who was appearing there, happened to see her passing and asked if he could take her photo. The picture was published in a glossy magazine alongside the caption "My Ideal Woman - by Sammy Davis Jr." Modelling work flooded in and she won the lucrative role of the American Express girl in a series of commercials with the catchline "That'll do nicely". She also appeared in Lord Lichfield's book, 'The World's Most Beautiful Women'. She also won several acting roles, including appearances in the TV series 1999 and Dick Barton Special Agent. Her first big screen role came in The Greek Tycoon in 1978. Her relationship with Harris ended soon after and she won another acting part, this time in 1980's Rough Cut. Around this time, she met Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and the couple married on 27 December 1980. Soon after, the family flew out on location for Cassie's portrayal of Countess Lisl in For Your Eyes Only. She introduced her then pre-Remington Steele husband to Bond producer Albert Broccoli at a dinner party in 1981 while working on the Bond film. The pair had a son, Sean, in September 1983 and stayed married until Cassie's death in 1991 after a four-year struggle against ovarian cancer. There is a whale watch memorial dedicated to her in Malibu, California.