Eva Norvind was a multifaceted individual who left a lasting impact in various fields. Born Eva Johanne Chegodayeva Sakonskaya on May 7th, 1944, in Trondheim, Norway, she was the daughter of Russian refugee Prince Paulovic Chegodayef Sakonsky and Norwegian sculptress Johanna Kajanus. Besides her well-known pseudonyms Ava Taurel and Eva Hultgreen, she also worked under her own name Eva Norvind.
Norvind began her career in the entertainment industry at a young age, winning the second prize in the beauty contest at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. This led to a minor role in Marcel Moussy's Saint-Tropez Blues (1961) and eventually, she became a showgirl at the Follies Bergere and began acting at the Comedie Francaise.
In 1962, Norvind moved to Canada and then to New York City, where she worked as a showgirl and Can-Can dancer in cabarets, as well as a lunch-time Playboy bunny. After finishing high school in 1964, she took a bus to Mexico City to study Spanish over the summer and was recruited by a television producer to act in a small part in a TV variety show.
Norvind's Nordic beauty, voluptuous figure, and daring attitude quickly made her a film actress and sex symbol in the Mexican media. She acted in numerous films, including 'Nuestros buenos vecinos de Yucatan' (1965),'Esta noche no' (1966),'Pacto de sangre' (1966),and 'Don Juan 67' (1966).
However, her career was marred by a highly publicized scandal in 1966 when she spoke of birth control on national TV. The Mexican government ordered her to leave the country within 24 hours, but with the help of the actors union, she was able to remain in Mexico, albeit with restrictions on her work.
In the 1980s, Norvind shifted her focus to film production, studying at NYU and receiving her BFA in 1982. She produced shorts and promotional films within the health field and worked as an associate producer on feature films.
In the 1990s, Norvind became fascinated with the exploration of erotic power exchange and invented a pseudonym for herself as dominatrix Ava Taurel. She founded Taurel Enterprises, Inc, and began counseling, erotic role-play, and video production for health-related services.
Norvind's life and work have been documented in numerous books and feature films, including 'Whipped' (1996),'Didn't Do It for Love' (1997),and 'Tops & Bottoms' (1999). She has also been featured in various magazines and books, such as 'How to Be Hap Hap Happy Like Me' by Merrill Markoe and 'Working Sex' by Marianne Macy.
In her later years, Norvind continued to work in the film industry, appearing in 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (1999) and working on a documentary film about a severely handicapped Mexican actor and musician, Jose Flores, entitled 'Born Without'.
