She was born in Croydon, South London. For a number of years she played the part of Frau Schrader (The Baroness) in the London production of The Sound of Music at the Palce Theatre, singing two songs which were cut from the film version. As the first female to be seen in Dr. No together with James Bond (Sean Connery), she is officially the very first actress to play a Bond girl. Decades later, Gayson's daughter appeared in a casino scene in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye.