James Bond star's journey from refugee to Hollywood via Suffolk
2025-02-16
Category: entertainment

A woman who fled communist Czechoslovakia for the UK in the 60s explained how she ended up finding Hollywood fame in a James Bond film.Anika Pavel left for Suffolk at the age of 18 to become an au pair in Ipswich and became a refugee when the Soviet Union invaded her home country in 1968.She told BBC Radio Suffolk: "I have such a soft spot for Ipswich. I was in this paradise, a place of freedom where you could have fish and listen to your favourite songs."Ms Pavel later moved to London and the States, working as a model then an actress in commercials, which led to films and the role of "Bond girl" in The Spy Who Loved Me with Roger Moore in 1977.
She explained that writing her book Encounter with the Future made her relive past events, including how she felt alone in the UK and eventually had to leave Suffolk."Actually, it really wasn't my decision. The lady I was working for had to go to prison so I was forced to go to London on my own and fend for myself."I ended up in Victoria railway station sleeping the night."
She said the next day she went to the Young Women's Christian Association hostel: "I marched in and then entered the competition to be a model and the rest, as they say, is history."I went through some very difficult situations and when you are in it and alone, as I was, you just put your right foot in front of the left one and do what you have to do."
As well as her appearance alongside Roger Moore, Ms Pavel is known for her roles in 1979's The Golden Lady and Confessions of a Window Cleaner in 1974. The mother-of-three now lives in America with her son and describes herself as a proud grandmother.
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