Honey Ryder

The shell diver of Crab Key, often called the first Bond girl.

Honey Ryder (Honeychile Rider in the novel) is the heroine of Ian Fleming's Dr. No. In the 1962 film she is played by Ursula Andress, whose lines were dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl, and she is usually counted as the first Bond girl. Her entrance, walking out of the sea in a white bikini with two shells in her hands, is one of the best-known scenes in the series.

Quick Facts

Series: James Bond
First: Dr. No (novel, 1958)
Last: Dr. No (film, 1962)
Creator: Ian Fleming
Portrayed by: Ursula Andress
Voice: Nikki van der Zyl
Gender: Female
Occupation: Shell diver

Lore & Background

In the novel she is a Jamaican shell diver from an old colonial family, orphaned at five when her parents' house burned down and raised by her nanny in a cellar. She dives off Crab Key to sell shells to American collectors and save for an operation on her broken nose. The bikini was invented for the film; in the book she comes out of the water wearing only her knife belt.