When we think of Hollywood we conjure up images of champagne and glamorous red carpet premieres. Behind the scenes, however, celebrities have used their considerable charms to sneak behind enemy lines and gain access to the most powerful figures in the world. Fame is intoxicating. Itâs also an ideal cover story for espionage work so weâre ringing in 2023 with a toast to six of the worldâs most captivating spies.
Audrey Hepburn
She mingled with Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant, but between films was Audrey Hepburn really Holly Bond? The Breakfast at Tiffany's star was a message courier for downed British pilots, part of the Dutch Resistance during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during WWII - and that wasnât even her most dangerous mission.
Before he created the legendary James Bond, celebrity author Ian Fleming was a World War II officer in Britainâs Naval Intelligence Department. His imaginative wartime schemes included Operation Mincemeat, a devious mission with a 007-style plot twist, but some of Flemingâs other ideas were so wild the operations couldnât be carried out - at least, not that Britain would admit.
FBI supremo J. Edgar Hoover ordered his G-men to follow Marlene Dietrichâs every move for years. They open her mail searching for âun-American activitiesâ even while the husky-voiced diva was entertaining US troops during WWII, saying it was her most effective way to fight Hitler. The GIs praised her talent but was Dietrich actually a double agent playing both sides?
Josephine Baker was a global celebrity, fashion icon, singer, undercover spy, and American civil rights activist who stood alongside Martin Luther King during 1963âs March on Washington. Like King, Baker had a dream. âI could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee and that made me mad,â she told the crowd, and âLook out, âcause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.â
Christopher Lee is celebrated for his work as the man with the golden gun in addition to starring as Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. The actor - who spoke fluent Italian, Spanish, French, and German - was also a member of the SAS, the British Army Special Forces. Lee conducted missions in occupied Europe and tracked down suspected Nazis, earning his nickname âSpyâ and an unusual track record.
World renowned French designer Gabrielle âCocoâ Chanel was known by her Nazi handlers as agent F-7124. She rubbed shoulders with the worldâs power brokers and cozied up to a Nazi officer in German military intelligence when they lived at the Ritz Paris hotel, but whose side was she really on?
