How would being painted in gold affect the human body?

Answer 1

If one were completely encased in it, one might get overheated, but so long as your air passages were clear, it wouldn't kill you. People used to think that the skin had to "breathe" or a person would die, but this really isn't true.

Also, as far as I know, gold doesn't really affect the human body. It passes right on through if ingested, and does not, despite some silly companies pandering to the rich, make one's skin firmer or anything like that.

So no, the woman in "Goldfinger" wouldn't have died from being painted gold unless she couldn't breathe through her mouth and nose.