Nađa Regin: From wartime Yugoslavia to James Bond stardom

Nađa Regin, born Nadežda Poderegin in Niš, achieved international recognition as a Bond girl, appearing in the 1963 film ‘From Russia with Love’ and the 1964 film ‘Goldfinger’.

Her early life was marked by tragedy in Kraljevo, where her father, Ignjatije Poderegin, was killed during a Nazi execution in 1941 after refusing to abandon his students. Following this event, Regin moved to Belgrade with her mother and sister. She studied at the Academy for Theatre Arts and the Faculty of Philosophy, eventually becoming multilingual in five languages. After building a career in domestic Yugoslav cinema, she transitioned to British and German productions in the early 1960s.