French actress Claudine Auger, best known for her role in the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball alongside Sean Connery, died at the age of 78.

She died in Paris on Wednesday after a long period of illness, said Time Art, her agency.
Auger began as a model, representing France and coming to Miss World in 1958 as the first runner-up.
But she developed a talent for acting quickly and landed roles including one in The Iron Mask, a 1962 movie.
A few years later, in 1965, she shot as the fourth film in the Bond franchise, Domino in Thunderball, to global stardom.
She was the first female co-star to be from France for the role of James Bond, known as a “Bond girl.”
It was later revealed that Auger’s character was rewritten by the production team. Domino was supposed to be Italian in the beginning, but she became French.
“Bond girls” were rarely remembered for their performing talents with the focus on their physical appearance and swimsuits at the time instead.
Nevertheless, as if she were “playing Molière” at a prestigious theatre, Auger approached the role as she would, she told a television interview in 1965.
It was “a game, the same thing”, she said.
After Thunderball, Auger continued throughout the late 1960s and 1970s to have a fruitful career in French and Italian cinema.
The crime thrillers That Man George and Flic Story are among her best known films, and the romantic tragedy A Few Hours of Sunlight.