Biography
This page uses content from the Maryam D'Abo biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Maryam d'Abo (born December 27, 1960 in London, England, to a Georgian mother and Dutch father) is an actress. Her first notable performance was as Kara Milovy in the 1987 James Bond film, The Living Daylights. She is a first cousin of the singer Mike d'Abo, and a first cousin once removed of actress Olivia d'Abo.
Raised around Paris and Geneva, Maryam decided she wanted to be an actress at the age of 11 based on her love of the James Bond movies. She studied at London’s Drama Center while working as a model in commercials. In 1983 she made her screen debut in the low-budget British S.F. horror film Xtro, playing a French au pair who becomes an alien breeding chamber (or a human incubator). Xtro was briefly vilified as a so-called video nasty, and it is often mentioned in the same breath as many other video nasties of the early 80s, but in fact it was granted an uncut video certificate by the BBFC, shortly after its successful cinema run. Talking to Femme Fatales magazine in 1994, d’Abo remembered it as "a terrible movie".
She remains best known for her role as Kara Milovy, the innocent and vulnerable Czechoslovakian cellist who falls for James Bond in The Living Daylights. It remains her personal favourite film, and she did a Playboy cover in September 1987 to coincide with the film’s release. After that she had a well-received role as Ta'Ra, an alien medical officer in the science fiction TV miniseries, Something is Out There, which was followed by a short-lived (six episode) NBC series by the same name. In 1992 she had a critically acclaimed supporting role as a pretentious stained-glass artist in the quirky, low-budget British comedy Leon the Pig Farmer, which enjoyed a positive reception at film festivals in Venice, London, Edinburgh, and Palm Springs, Calif. Since then she has had forgetable roles in some low-budget, straight-to-video action, horror, and fantasy films, as well as guest roles on television shows like Tales From the Crypt, Red Shoe Diaries, and Murder, She Wrote. She played Keira Knightley’s mother in the 2002 TV miniseries version of Doctor Zhivago, and she was Queen Hecuba in the Emmy-nominated miniseries Helen of Troy. In 2005 she had a small role in the dark, but well-received French film L’Enfer (Hell), co-written by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Carole Bouquet.
In 2002, d'Abo co-wrote the book Bond Girls Are Forever, a tribute to an elite club of women who have played the role of a "Bond Girl". The book later became a DVD exclusive documentary featuring d'Abo and other famed Bond girls, including Ursula Andress. The documentary was released as a gift with the purchase of Die Another Day on DVD.
In November 2003, d'Abo married Hugh Hudson, the Oscar-nominated British director of Chariots of Fire; Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes; and Revolution.
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