The mythical scene of Ursula Andress in Agent 007 vs. Dr. No (1962) coming out of the sea humming, dressed and with a knife on her belt – before the attentive gaze of someone whose eyebrows are rising as he gets a closer look at that woman – is cinema history. Sales of the two-piece swimsuits skyrocketed after the film’s premiere and Andress was officially established as , a title that in recent years has been revalidated by actresses such as Halle Berry – also with a bikini and a knife on her belt -, Eva Green and Monica Bellucci. Andress was 26 years old when she won the Golden Globe thanks to that role and the Swiss actress turns 90 on March 19, but, far from celebrating, she is worried.
“I am still in a state of shock“, she said last January, after filing a complaint against her late former representative, Eric Freymond, for embezzlement. According to the criminal complaint, Freymond, administrator of the actress’s estate from 2017 to 2025, would have lost 18 million Swiss francs – almost 19.8 million euros of a total fortune estimated at 21.8 million euros – over several years, through dubious transactions and without ever informing Andress “I was deliberately targeted. For eight years they courted and seduced me. “They lied to me without scruple and took advantage of my good faith and my trust in a perfidious, even criminal, way to take everything from me,” the actress lamented in statements to Blick. “And they took advantage of my age! I’m very sad. This feeling of helplessness is unbearable, it’s killing me,” he said after confessing that he has trouble sleeping and has anxiety attacks.
She is not the only victim of Freymond, who took his own life on July 23, 2025, at age 67. The businessman had already been suspected of embezzling the fortune for whom he also worked as asset manager. During an interrogation in Paris last year, Freymond confessed to some of the charges and, two weeks later, committed suicide.
“As part of a fraudulent scheme of exceptional magnitude and complexity, in which numerous actors and structures participated, [Andress] “She was deprived of a large part of her assets, which caused her significant damage,” says the statement that the interpreter’s representation agency made public last January. “Everyone knows how meticulous and sensible I have been throughout my life, without ever losing contact with reality. The virtues of a Swiss girl from Ostermundigen have always guided me. Like all Swiss, I have worked hard and always saved. I hoped to spend my last years happy and peaceful. And now this happens. I have been scammed in a disgusting way! I hope that the guilty parties are punished to the fullest extent of the law. “I’m devastated,” the actress added in her interview with the aforementioned Swiss media.
The criminal complaint states that, in the spring of 2024, Freymond transferred Andress’ assets from Lombard Odier Bank to an account at Saanen Bank without her consent. A notary involved in that transaction allegedly used the money to purchase works of art on behalf of the actress, but without her consent and without showing her any of those works. In addition, it has been revealed that the works of art that the representative supposedly purchased with the performer’s fortune are now in the name of his wife, Caroline Freymond, with the alleged objective of providing liquidity to her husband, although there is no indication, at the moment, that Caroline is involved in any crime. The complaint also alleges that another portion of his fortune was invested in worthless or disreputable stocks, causing another few million to disappear.
“In view of the ongoing judicial process, Ms. Andress does not wish to make any further comments at this time. The judicial authorities of the canton of Vaud have been tasked with fully clarifying the manipulations and determining criminal and civil responsibilities,” clarified the statement from the actress’ representation agency. A criminal process that is still open today.
Andress’ love life has also been a rollercoaster. She has been known to have romantic relationships with Dennis Hopper and , before beginning a courtship with the actor and director John Derek in 1954, when she was 19 years old and he was 28. They married in 1957, after he left his wife to be with Andress, and they divorced in 1964. Another of her most notable relationships was the one she had with Harry Hamlin, with whom she has a son, Dimitri, also an actor. The actor of Mad Men and the Bond girl met in 1980, while filming together Clash of the Titanswhen she was 44 years old and he was 28. They were together for three years. Later, she has been linked to the soccer player Paulo Roberto Falcão, the actor Gerardo Amato or .
Her last known relationship was with martial arts expert Jeff Speakman in 1991, but since then Ursula Andress has become more discreet and has withdrawn from public life. His last film role was in 2005, in the Swiss film The Bird Sermon (The sermon of the birds). In 2017 he said goodbye to Hollywood by selling his house in Beverly Hills. Now he divides his time between his apartments in Rome and in Gstaad (Switzerland), near his brothers.
