Born the daughter of an engineer and executive with the Royal Dutch Shell Company, Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer became fluent in eight languages, a result of her family’s frequent relocations around the world.
With original aspirations to enter the field of medicine, a chance meeting with screen idol Errol Flynn changed her mind. Flynn convinced the young beauty to try her hand at acting. He even offered to pay to fix a few of her crooked teeth, an offer which Blanca happily accepted. Flynn even gave Blanca her stage name — “Linda Christian” — taken from the character of “Fletcher Christian,” which he played in a 1933 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty. Flynn was later shocked when the bill he received for some light dental work tacked on some extensive cosmetic work.
Now using her new name, Linda made her film debut alongside Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore in Up In Arms, which was also Kaye’s first film. She quickly followed-up with several more films including 1948’s Tarzan and the Mermaids, the final Tarzan adventure to feature Johnny Weissmuller. Linda was later cast in a TV production of Casino Royale opposite Barry Nelson as “James Bond,” thus becoming the very first “Bond Girl,” beating Ursula Andress to the title by eight years.
Despite appearing in over two dozen movies, Linda Christian is best remembered for her eight-year marriage to actor Tyrone Power. The couple were both offered roles in From Here to Eternity. Tyrone Power was not interested in the film. The roles were eventually given to Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed. Linda is the mother of actress Taryn Power and singer Romina Power. The couple divorced in 1956. One month later, Linda was dating Spanish racecar driver Alfonso de Portago. Linda is seen kissing de Portago in a photo taken just prior to a race — a race in which de Portago’s Ferrari crashed, killing him, his navigator and nine spectators. The press labeled the photo “The Kiss of Death.” In the 1960s, Linda had a relationship with actor Glenn Ford.
Linda essentially retired from acting in the late 1960s, with only two more screen appearances in the 80s. She passed away in 2011, at the age of 87. Her daughter Taryn died in 2020.