Tania Mallet was born in Blackpool, England, to Olga Mironoff, a former beautiful chorus girl of Russian descent, and Henry Mallet, a successful English car salesman. Her parents later divorced, and Olga remarried George Dawson, with whom she had three sons. However, George was a non-violent con man who was sent to prison for committing fraud.
Tania's older brother, her father's son, is none other than actress Helen Mirren's father, making Mallet and Mirren first cousins. They grew up together, and Helen wrote in her 2007 autobiography that her cousin "survived this extraordinary upbringing and came out miraculously a loyal and generous person."
At the tender age of 16, Tania began her modeling career after taking a course at the Lucy Clayton School of Modelling. She quickly gained fame, appearing as herself in the documentary "Girls Girls Girls!" (1961) and was even considered for the role of the lead James Bond girl in "From Russia with Love" (1963).
Although she didn't land the role, Tania was later cast in the next Bond film, "Goldfinger" (1964),playing the ill-fated Tilly Masterson. She agreed to appear in the film as an experiment, earning £2,000 a week as a model, but managed to secure only £150 a week as her fee for the film.
Tania had mixed feelings about her time on "Goldfinger", as she was grieving the loss of her long-time boyfriend, who had died at the same time. She eventually went back to modeling, as she found it more lucrative than acting. She married her second husband, Simon Radcliffe, in 1976, with whom she had a 40-year marriage until his death in 2016, leaving her a widow.
Throughout her life, Tania maintained a warm relationship with her cousin Helen Mirren, as evidenced by the photos of the two smiling cousins in Mirren's autobiography. Tania continued to attend James Bond events and autographed her photographs at these events.
Sadly, Tania Mallet passed away on March 30, 2019, at the age of 77, from undisclosed causes. Her cousin Helen Mirren publicly paid tribute to her the following day, calling her a "kind and generous" person and a "great optimist".
