Colonel Rosa Klebb is a villain from the James Bond novel and film From Russia With Love. She was played by Lotte Lenya in the film version.

Colonel Rosa Klebb

Novel biography: Colonel Klebb is a high ranking member of the feared Russian counter-intelligence agency SMERSH, where she serves as the supervisor of Department II (operations and executions). Klebb is assigned to spearhead an operation to get revenge on James Bond for his involvment in the deaths of two SMERSH operatives, Le Chiffre and Mr Big. Teaming with Tov Kronsteen and Red Grant, Klebb sets a trap for Bond, enlisting a cipher clerk, Tatiana Romanova, to pretend to defect, claiming to fall in love with Bond. When Bond takes the bait, Grant will kill him. This plan backfires, however, when Tatiana really does fall in love with Bond. After Grant is killed, Klebb must attend to Bond herself. She tracks him and Tatania to Paris and poisons him by means of a venom tipped dart hidden in her shoe. Bond survives due to the timely intervention of his friend René Mathis, who later also manages to capture Klebb.

Film biography: Klebb is a former SMERSH agent who has defected to become a member of SPECTRE (Blofeld refers to her as #3). She uses Kronsteen’s plans to obtain the Lektor device and kill Bond. She hires Tatiania Romanova to help Bond steal the Lektor, and then sends Red Grant to kill Bond and recover it. When Red Grant dies at the hand of Bond, Blofeld wants to know who is behind the failure. Then, thanks to Morenzy, Kronsteen dies and Klebb makes one last attempt to get Bond and the Lektor. Posing as a maid, she attempts to take the Lektor; when she is caught she points a gun at Bond. Romanova then distracts her, causing her to drop the gun, and Bond and Klebb fight. As in the novel, Klebb attempts to kick Bond with the poison tipped shoe, but Bond manages to block this with a chair. Tatiana then picks up Bond’s gun and kills Klebb.

See also:

• Bond villains