Tania Mallet, who as Tilly Masterson in James Bond’s 1964 film Goldfinger, has died. She was 77.

“We are very sorry to hear that Tania Mallet who played Tilly Masterson in GOLDFINGER has passed away. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time,” the official James Bond Twitter account said Sunday.

We are very sorry to hear that Tania Mallet who played Tilly Masterson in GOLDFINGER has passed away. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/gMkqqheGJ7

— James Bond (@007) March 31, 2019

Mallet, Dame Helen Mirren’s cousin, was born in Blackpool on May 19, 1941. She began modeling at the age of 16, and after apparently losing out on the role of Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love in 1957, director Cubby Broccoli cast her in Goldfinger.

She returned to modeling following her hit film instead of pursuing a career in acting.

Mallet’s role in “Goldfinger” was the sister of Shirley Eaton’s Jill Masterson, who betrayed the villain Auric Goldfinger and was killed by him after being totally covered in gold paint. Masterson is killed in the film by Goldfinger’s valet, Oddjob (played by Harold Sakata), who throws a steel-rimmed hat at her in order to avenge her sister’s death.

Mallet told James Bond fan site MI6 in 2003 that despite the “interesting” experience of filming, she had always felt “more comfortable” in a tiny studio with “just a photographer and his assistant”

“Filming had been an interesting experience but I was always more comfortable in a small studio with just the photographer and his assistant,” she said. “Besides which, the restrictions placed on me for the duration of the filming grated, were dreadful and I could not anticipate living my life like that. For instance, being forbidden to ride in case I had an accident, not being allowed to go abroad etc.”

Her only big screen appearance would be in the James Bond picture.  She maintained her modeling profession, claiming that it provided her with a more comfortable environment.

She was also put off by the “dreadful” salary. ” Originally, I was offered £50 per week, which I managed to push up to £150, but even so I earned more than that in a day modelling.

“So the six months I worked (or was retained to work) on Goldfinger were real sacrifice.”

Bondstars.com, a fan site, paid homage to her on Twitter, writing: “Unfortunately we must share the very sad news that our dear friend Tania Mallet has sadly passed away.

“She was a very classy and beautiful lady inside and out.”

In her 2007 book, “In the Frame: My Life in Words and Pictures,” Mirren described Mallet as a “loyal and generous person” who used her modeling earnings to help pay for her brothers’ schooling.

The cause of Mallet’s death is yet unknown.