Kara Milovy, played by Maryam d’Abo, is a character in James Bond film The Living Daylights.

Maryam d’Abo as Kara Milovy in ‘The Living Daylights’.

Biography: Bond has been informed that General Georgi Koskov is willing to defect from the Russians. As Koskov runs across the road to meet Bond, 007 spots a sniper, who he recognises as the beautiful cellist he had spotted during a concert earlier. Defying his orders to kill her, Bond shoots the rifle out of her hands, only marginally injuring her. This prompts the line for which the film is named, “I must have scared the living daylights out of her.”

Convinced that Kara Milovy (who actually is Koskov’s girlfriend) is more of a victim than a proper assassin, Bond helps her escape from the KGB in Bratislava, gaining her trust by claiming to be sent by Koskov, and then he takes her to Austria; when Bond’s Aston Martin is destroyed during the escape, the two of them resort to sledding to the Austrian border in Kara’s cello case. Eventually Kara contacts Koskov directly, and he leads his girlfriend to believe that Bond is actually a KGB agent. On Koskov’s instructions, she drugs Bond to allow Koskov to capture him, but she soon realises that Koskov has been deceiving her and switches back to Bond’s side.

Kara and Bond are taken to Afghanistan, where they team up with a Mujahideen group headed by Kamran Shah. Kara convinces Shah to help Bond by attacking a Soviet airbase. After boarding a C130 plane that Bond had hijacked, Kara helps him to pilot the plane carrying drugs while he battles the villainous Necros at the back. The film ends with Kara’s world tour (as a prize for her bravery, she’s been given a special visa which allows her to play around the world), where she is disappointed that Bond does not attend. Much to her surprise, she discovers him in her dressing room.

Kara Milovy is, to date, the last “main” Bond Girl to be blonde. All subsequent leading Bond girls have been brunettes or red-haired.

See also:

• Bond girls