The name's van der Zyl. Nikki van der Zyl. It may not be familiar, but the voice most certainly is. HUGH CHRISTOPHER met up with a Bond girl whose talent has been kept strictly undercover . . .

As far as undercover operations go, even 007 would have to raise an admiring eyebrow at the work of Nikki van der Zyl.

The uncredited voice behind some of the sexiest icons in 20th-century history, Mrs van der Zyl, of High Road, Whetstone, is solely responsible for Ursula Andress' rich, caramel tones in Dr No, Shirley Eaton's sultry purr in Goldfinger and the mid-Atlantic tones sported by Eunice Gayson in From Russia With Love.

Unbeknown to many is the fact that the majority of the female characters featured in the first five James Bond films were strictly for your eyes only.

They owe their vocal performances to Mrs van der Zyl, who dubbed dialogue after the film had finished shooting.

It wasn't until a newspaper article was printed 22 years after the first Bond film, Dr No, that her involvement in the series was revealed.

"I did the voices for all the female characters in Dr No, barring Miss Moneypenny and a Chinese character, and many of the Bond girls in the next few films.

"I also did Raquel Welch's 'grunting' in One Million Years BC and worked with Michael Caine on Funeral In Berlin.

"I was paid very little for each session, getting about £30 for each film I worked on and my name is not listed in the credits."

The reality is that while far higher-paid actresses such as Shirley Eaton, Ursula Andress and the rest may have effortlessly lit up the screen physically, verbally they were not so adept.

Ms Andress' voice a booming, low German accent did not really suit her sexy on-screen image, while Ms Eaton's shrill cockney twang would likely have left even the suavest of secret agents more shaken than stirred.

Other beneficiaries of Mrs van der Zyl's talent include Suzy Kendall in Fraulein Doctor, Jenny Hanley in Scars Of Dracula and Eva Renzi in Funeral In Berlin.

With all these links in the film world, it's surprising that Mrs van der Zyl never translated her behind-the-scenes abilities into stardom in front of the camera.

Yet if things had worked out differently, she may have been the one who emerged from the surf, clad only in a white bikini, to tempt 007 in his very first outing not bad for a rabbi's daughter born in pre-war Germany.

"I didn't really look like a Bond girl back then. I was a skinny thing and that wasn't really the fashion at the time. The director of Dr No, Terence Young, once told me that I wouldn't make a Bond girl as I couldn't stop the traffic, but Sean Connery, who was a lovely man, said 'Nikki, you'd stop me in my tracks anytime'.

"At the time Sean Connery was an unknown but he really took me under his wing, and we became friends for all the Bond films I worked on."

On the set of Goldfinger (1964), Mrs van der Zyl would often spend time with her co-stars such as Connery, Gert Frobe (who played the eponymous Auric Goldfinger) and Harold Sakata (Oddjob). It's a time she remembers fondly.

"I was watching Goldfinger the other night and all the memories come flooding back," Mrs van der Zyl smiles.

"I have very fond memories of Gert (Frobe). He would often pretend to play all the instruments in a one-man-band to keep us all amused. And Oddjob was so funny he used to have us all in stitches between takes."

"I remember when Gert was rehearsing the line when Bond is placed on a table about to be split in two with a laser.

"Bond says to him: 'Do you expect me to talk?' to which Gert responds 'No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die'. We talked for ages about how this line should be said.

"Eventually I told him: 'Say it in a matter of fact way, Gert. Say it matter of fact.' Whenever I see that scene it reminds me of him."

Now 65, and still blessed with a voice that could send grown men weak at the knees, Mrs van der Zyl can look back on a career where she not only worked as a voice-over artist for some of Hollywood's biggest productions, but went on to be a parliamentary consultant, barrister and even wrote a column for the Times Group.

And if that wasn't enough, she is now set to try her hand in the art world opening a gallery at Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone, next Saturday.