Valerie Leon (born 12 November 1945) is an English actress, regarded as something of a cult figure due to her roles in a number of high profile British film "franchises".
Her father was a director of a textile company, and her mother, who trained at RADA, stopped acting to become a full-time mother. She is the eldest of four privately-educated children. After leaving school, she became a trainee fashion buyer at Harrods, before playing truant one day to go to an audition which led to her becoming a chorus girl, and then going on tour with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.
Leon appeared in several of the Carry On films, has been both an "official" and "unofficial" Bond girl - having played the "hotel receptionist" in The Spy Who Loved Me and the "Lady in Bahamas" in Never Say Never Again, and starred in the Hammer horror film Blood from the Mummy's Tomb as well as appearing in Revenge of the Pink Panther.
On television, Leon is probably best remembered for her part as a tall buxom woman driven wild by a small and puny man wearing Hai Karate aftershave, in a series of commercials for the product. She also appeared in The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Up Pompeii!, The Avengers, Space:1999 and in The Goodies comedy episode "It Might as Well Be String".
Valerie was married to BBC Head Of Comedy, Michael Mills from 1974 until his death in 1986.They had 2 children, a boy in 1975 and a girl in 1977.
