Bunny Yeager and George Pastell Feature Today….Day 72 of Bond 365

Happy Friday one and all! It’s time to relax and enjoy the next two days off. It’s supposed to be warm here in SoCal. I say bring it on; I’m ready. Have a fantastic weekend wherever you are!

George Pastell

Born this day in 1923

Train Conductor in From Russia with Love

He was born Nino Pastellides in Cyprus and made his acting debut in Give Us This Day as the lucy in 1949. He went on to have a lengthy career in film and television, typically cast as a villain. He worked with Hammer Film Production on several films but because of his exotic looks, he had a number of roles in the spy genre as well as horror.

George Pastell and Sean Connery, From Russia with Love

Pastell played the train conductor in From Russia with Love, but according to his IMDB profile, he was in another Bond film where he provided the Tiger Tanaka voice in You Only Live Twice. He gave up acting around 1969 and for the next few years before his death in 1976, he worked in the music industry (US).

Bunny Yeager, the woman behind the camera

Bunny Yeager

Born this day in 1929

Still Photographer for Dr. No

Linnea Eleanor Yeager was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania and moved with her family to Florida when she was 17. She eventually adopted the nickname “Bunny” from either playing an Easter bunny in a high school play or from the character, Bunny Smith, in Week-End at the Waldorf (1945) starring Lana Turner.

Yeager became a model after high school and quickly won several beauty pageants that she became one of the most photographed models in the early 1950s. She designed and sewed outfits for herself and her models, including the very popular bikini. However, she began studying photography as a way to save money. As luck would have it, she was a proficient and talented photographer. Yeager’s experience in front of the camera surely lent the necessary critical cinematic eye behind the camera. She developed her own photography style, flash fill, photographing models outside, active poses, and models looking directly into the lens.

Ursula Andress, taken by Yeager on the set of Dr. No

In 1954, Yeager’s life made a turn. She met Bettie Page and took over 1,000 photographs of Page that lent to Page’s success as well as for Yeager, whose photographs were featured in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine. She took pin-ups during the 1950s and 1960s, many were featured in the various men’s magazines. However by the 1970s, the style of photographs the magazines were looking for were not of the style that Yeager was comfortable with, so she discontinued photographing for them. 

Yeager’s work has featured in a number of books and exhibitions around the world. Her work is incredible. If you are not familiar with her body of work, spend a little time checking out her photos, because she had a phenomenal talent for capturing the natural beauty of the women she photographed.

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.