The 89-year-old former Bond girl suffers from scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, and she fears it will finally put a halt to her lengthy onscreen career.

She tells Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "By the end of this year I'll probably chuck it in (quit acting). It'd be a great regret because my career has been so interesting - some of it fun, some of it torture - but it has filled my life. It's an effort at this stage of life. And since nobody is forcing me to make it, I don't see any point in putting myself through it... (The illness) makes it hell for me to walk any distance.

"I might just become a hunchback I think, me and Richard III. I am doing my pilates and if I didn't I think I would turn into a hunchback. When I leave pilates I am striding about, ­unfortunately it doesn't last that long. I don't have a wheelchair now, I expect I probably will, it depends if I make the effort to keep my back in shape. The thing I fear is my back becoming worse and worse and not being able to get around."

Blackman has joined the cast of comedy You, Me and Them which airs in the U.K. on Wednesday (08Apr15).