20 Things You Didn’t Know About Goldfinger (1964)
3. “And She’s Covered In Paint. Gold Paint.”
Although Jill Masterson appears in the film for less than five minutes, Shirley Eaton's gold-painted body is one of the most enduring images from Goldfinger and from the Bond franchise as a whole. She also featured on the cover of Life magazine painted in gold make-up.
Each time she adopted Jill's golden makeover, Eaton underwent a two-hour paint job, wearing cups over her breasts and a G-string that was concealed by a cushion onscreen. A bare patch was left over her stomach to avoid skin suffocation. However, skin suffocation has been debunked since the Renaissance Period as respiration does not actually occur through the skin. Ian Fleming lifted the idea for his character, Jill Masterton's death from the horror film, Bedlam (1946).
A doctor was present at all times during the filming of Shirley Eaton’s gold-painted scenes, which were completed in one morning, after which she was scrubbed down by the make-up crew before sweating out the remainder of the make-up in several sauna sessions.
Nevertheless, rumours circulated for many years that she had actually died from skin suffocation whilst making Goldfinger; ironically, at the time of writing, she is the sole surviving primary cast member from the film!