STEPPAT, ILSE

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

(November 30, 1917–December 21, 1969): German character actress who portrayed Frau Irma Bunt, personal secretary to Blofeld (Telly Savalas) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Steppat’s only role in English, Bunt is a belligerent character who would have made a great Gestapo chief—and she’s the one who machine-guns 007’s bride Tracy (Diana Rigg) to death in the film’s tragic ending.

Born in Barmen, Germany, the actress made her motion picture debut in director Kurt Maetzig’s drama Marriage in the Shadows (1947).

Sadly, Steppat died of a heart attack less than a week after the release of her Bond film debut.

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