The whereabouts of both women remained a mystery for several decades until I located Pat Gill (the blonde to the left of Shady), still residing in Las Vegas, in 2011. Tree’s lovely stage partners, the Acorns, were played by real-life Vegas showgirls Pat Gill and Jennifer Castle.

Tree was played by veteran comic and showbiz performer Leonard Barr, master of the fast one-liners and uncle to entertainer Dean Martin. Bond’s mission takes him from Amsterdam to Las Vegas and the Whyte House, a casino-hotel where diamond smuggler Shady Tree works as a stand-up comedian. Good and evil seem to come in twos in Bond’s seventh cinematic outing, Diamonds Are Forever. Some portions of this interview were first conducted in 2014.

Jennifer enthusiastically shared her memories of filming alongside Sean Connery and the rest of the Bond cast and crew. On the 50th anniversary celebration of Diamonds Are Forever (1971), FSWL contributor Steve Oxenrider talked to former Las Vegas showgirl Jennifer Borel, who played one of Shady Tree’s two lovely ‘Acorns’.

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