The MEN behind IAN FLEMING's JAMES BOND 007
HEIGHT CHART: IAN FLEMING'S BOND is about 6'0 foot tall. They all are at least faithful to the book, if nothing else. If you read the books, be warned that you will be disappointed to expect that the story is anywhere near.
HEIGHT CHART: IAN FLEMING'S BOND is about 6'0 foot tall. They all are at least faithful to the book, if nothing else. If you read the books, be warned that you will be disappointed to expect that the story is anywhere near.
SEAN CONNERY (1st BOND-7 movies)
( Dr. No-1962,Goldfinger-1964, From Russia with Love-1964,
Thunderball 1965, You only live twice 1967, Diamonds are forever-1971,
Never say never again-1983)
Connery skyrocketed to international fame as the suave, confident (and many say definitive)
Secret Agent 007 in six of Ian Fleming's Bond movies over the next decade, 1962 to 1971)
He came back as a more mature bond in 1983, "Never say never again-1983" in between the time of Moore's Octopussy 1983.
TRIVIA: Never Say Never Again, released in 1983, is the unofficial remake of the 1965James Bond film Thunderball. It starred Sean Connery as the famous British Secret Service agent (as did Thunderball), and was released theatrically by Warner Bros.
The film is considered an "unofficial"[1] James Bond film because it is not part of the Bond film franchise produced by EON Productions and United Artists, even though it is currently owned by United Artists parent MGM.[2] MGM acquired the distribution rights in 1997 after their acquisition of Orion Pictures. The film also marks the culmination of a long legal battle between United Artists and Kevin McClory.
Originally, the film was scheduled for release in direct competition against the official, EON Productions Bond film, Octopussy starring Roger Moore, which led to the media dubbing the situation "The Battle of the Bonds". Ultimately, the two films were released at different times in 1983, and both were box office successes — although Octopussy ended up making more money than Never Say Never Again.
GEORGE ROBERT LAZENBY(2nd Bond-1 movie)(On her Majesty's secret service 1967)
George Robert Lazenby was born on September 5, 1939 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. After serving in the Australian Army, he turned to selling cars for a living, before cashing in on his matinee-idol looks to become a top male model in London, where he had arrived in 1964 (the very same year that 11-year old Pierce Brosnan also arrived there and that Ian Fleming died, coincidentally).
The search for a new actor to portray James Bond had begun in 1968, after Sean Connery had announced he was finished with the role. Lazenby won the role of Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service despite having no prior acting experience.There was apparently much conflict on the set of that film, with Lazenby having strained relationships with director Peter Hunt and Bond Girl and former Avengers star Diana Rigg, as well as the producers. Today he admits he took bad advice, when he announced that he would not be doing any more Bond films. Connery was lured back for the next Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, and Lazenby's acting career floundered. Ironically, Lazenby's Bond film is considered by many fans to be one of the best in the series.
ROGER MOORE (3rd Bond-7 movies) (Live and Let Die 1973, The Man with the Golden Gun 1974, The Spy who Loved Me 1977, MoonRaker 1979, For your eyes only 1981, Octopussy 1983, A view to a kill 1985)
TIMOTHY DALTON (4th Bond-2 movies)
The search for a new actor to portray James Bond had begun in 1968, after Sean Connery had announced he was finished with the role. Lazenby won the role of Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service despite having no prior acting experience.There was apparently much conflict on the set of that film, with Lazenby having strained relationships with director Peter Hunt and Bond Girl and former Avengers star Diana Rigg, as well as the producers. Today he admits he took bad advice, when he announced that he would not be doing any more Bond films. Connery was lured back for the next Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, and Lazenby's acting career floundered. Ironically, Lazenby's Bond film is considered by many fans to be one of the best in the series.
ROGER MOORE (3rd Bond-7 movies) (Live and Let Die 1973, The Man with the Golden Gun 1974, The Spy who Loved Me 1977, MoonRaker 1979, For your eyes only 1981, Octopussy 1983, A view to a kill 1985)Moore came to the U.S. in 1953, where he got a film contract with MGM, playing supporting roles in several films. His first big TV series was Ivanhoe, followed by Maverick. But it was his role as suave and debonair Simon Templar in the TV series The Saint that catapulted him to stardom. His contract with that show prevented him from being chosen for to play James Bond in 1962. But the Bond role returned to Moore in 1972, when Sean Connery again said for a second time that he was finished as Bond, and Moore was hired as his successor for Live and Let Die.
It has been said that Moore is closer to Ian Fleming's original concept of Bond, as a disenfranchised member of the British Establishment, than Connery's more rough-and-tumble Bond. Indeed, the tone of the series changed under Moore's aegis, with the scripts being tailored to his personality and acting ability; retiring as 007 after A View to a Kill in 1985. He was succeeded by Timothy Dalton the following year.
TIMOTHY DALTON (4th Bond-2 movies)He won the part of 007 in August 1986 when Pierce Brosnan was unable to get out of his television contract at the last minute. Dalton portrayed Bond twice, in The Living Daylights-1987 and Licence to Kill-1989 . His portrayal of Bond signaled a return to a grittier, more realistic characterization, away from what Bond had evolved into during the Moore era.
Litigation between MGM and EON delayed the production of a new Bond film for several years after LTK. Meanwhile, rumors continually abounded that Dalton would be replaced. In April 1994 Dalton officially resigned the role, which then went to Brosnan.
PIERCE BROSNAN (5th Bond-4 movies)
(Golden eye-1995, Tomorrow Never Die's-1997,
The World is not Enough-1999, Die Another Day-2002)
(Golden eye-1995, Tomorrow Never Die's-1997,
The World is not Enough-1999, Die Another Day-2002)
It was during this period in the mid-Seventies that Pierce met Cassandra Harris, the woman who was to become his first wife. Wandering into the kitchen in her home, he wa caught eating chicken Cassie had planned to feed her two children, Charlotte and Christopher, the next day. The Australian model and actress delivered a sharp dressing down, along with a hefty dose of sexual chemistry. The two were married in a registry office ceremony in 1980 and son Sean was born three years later.
It was Cassie, who had had some success as an actress, even appearing as a Bond Girl in For Your Eyes Only, who persuaded Pierce he would be a hit in Hollywood. So in 1981 they sweet-talked their bank manager into giving them a home improvement loan which they spent on cheap airline tickets to LA. Two weeks later the chisel-jawed actor landed the role of suave private detective in Remington Steele, a prime-time NBC show which was to embed him in the consciousness of US TV audiences.
Pierce came to the attention of Cubby Broccoli who was eyeing him as a replacement for Roger Moore's 007. But not even Bond could have got out of the Remington Steele contract, and the role eventually went to Timothy Dalton. Although disappointed to have missed out on the role of a lifetime, Pierce was not unduly bothered – he was sure there would be other opportunities.
But in 1987, tragedy struck. Cassie, who had been complaining of fatigue and a swollen stomach, was diagnosed as suffering from ovarian cancer. When she died in his arms four years later, Pierce was devastated. "Cassie has made me the man that I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She's forever embedded in every fibre of my being," he told HELLO! in 1992. "She's there with me every day. I was so blessed to have met someone like that."
Lesser men might have cracked under the strain of bringing up three children – when Charlotte and Christopher's father died in 1986, they were adopted by their stepfather – combined with a burgeoning acting career, but Pierce soldiered on. Parts in Lawnmower Man and Mrs Doubtfire helped his Tinseltown profile inch upwards, but it wasn't until he landed the Bond contract in 1994 that he became a household name.
His interpretation of 007 in GoldenEye breathed new life into the James Bond oeuvre and the role obviously fitted like a glove. His personal life also took a turn for the better when he met Keely Shaye Smith, an environmental journalist, in Mexico. "I found a great woman in Keely," he recalled. "Not if I searched a million times over would I find one as good."
Their first child, Dylan Thomas Brosnan was born in 1997, and Paris Beckett followed four years later. Pierce and Keely tied the knot six months after Paris's arrival, in a fairytale wedding in Ireland. The family now live in a sprawling house on Malibu Beach.
DANIEL CRAIG (6th BOND-1 movie and counting)
Former JAMES BOND star ROGER MOORE insists it doesn't take a "good actor" to play the world's most famous secret agent. Moore - who played the suave superspy in the early 1980s - insists criticism of the decision to cast DANIEL CRAIG as 007 was harsh, because the role doesn't require much talent.
He says, "I am a great defender of Daniel Craig. He's a good actor. People have been so beastly, he's not even had a chance. "Not that you have to be a good actor... you just have to be able to say, 'My name's Bond, James Bond'
But despite offering his support to Craig, the 79-year-old actor isn't looking forward to Casino Royale's cinema release later this month (17NOV06). He says, "The other thing that happens when a new Bond film opens is that I get bad reviews.
"The critics say, 'Thank God, he - whoever he is - wasn't like Roger Moore'."
Casino Royal earned 13 million. More than any other Bond Film.
UPCOMING! QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Showing on November 2008
According to producer Michael G. Wilson, the film will not be utilizing any part of the original Ian Fleming short story "Quantum of Solace" except its title. Apart from James Bond, none of the characters from the short story (Rhoda Llewellyn , Philip Masters and the Governor) are intended for use as character names in the movie.First James Bond movie to take its title from an original Ian Fleming short story since The Living Daylights (1987), a gap of twenty-one years. The Ian Fleming James Bond short story "Quantum of Solace" was an attempt by Fleming to write a more literature serious story somewhat in the vein of W. Somerset Maugham. As such, it is in keeping with the more serious tone and dimension of the EON Production James Bond series which was initiated with Casino Royale (2006).
It was Cassie, who had had some success as an actress, even appearing as a Bond Girl in For Your Eyes Only, who persuaded Pierce he would be a hit in Hollywood. So in 1981 they sweet-talked their bank manager into giving them a home improvement loan which they spent on cheap airline tickets to LA. Two weeks later the chisel-jawed actor landed the role of suave private detective in Remington Steele, a prime-time NBC show which was to embed him in the consciousness of US TV audiences.
Pierce came to the attention of Cubby Broccoli who was eyeing him as a replacement for Roger Moore's 007. But not even Bond could have got out of the Remington Steele contract, and the role eventually went to Timothy Dalton. Although disappointed to have missed out on the role of a lifetime, Pierce was not unduly bothered – he was sure there would be other opportunities.
But in 1987, tragedy struck. Cassie, who had been complaining of fatigue and a swollen stomach, was diagnosed as suffering from ovarian cancer. When she died in his arms four years later, Pierce was devastated. "Cassie has made me the man that I am, the actor I am, the father I am. She's forever embedded in every fibre of my being," he told HELLO! in 1992. "She's there with me every day. I was so blessed to have met someone like that."
Lesser men might have cracked under the strain of bringing up three children – when Charlotte and Christopher's father died in 1986, they were adopted by their stepfather – combined with a burgeoning acting career, but Pierce soldiered on. Parts in Lawnmower Man and Mrs Doubtfire helped his Tinseltown profile inch upwards, but it wasn't until he landed the Bond contract in 1994 that he became a household name.
His interpretation of 007 in GoldenEye breathed new life into the James Bond oeuvre and the role obviously fitted like a glove. His personal life also took a turn for the better when he met Keely Shaye Smith, an environmental journalist, in Mexico. "I found a great woman in Keely," he recalled. "Not if I searched a million times over would I find one as good."
Their first child, Dylan Thomas Brosnan was born in 1997, and Paris Beckett followed four years later. Pierce and Keely tied the knot six months after Paris's arrival, in a fairytale wedding in Ireland. The family now live in a sprawling house on Malibu Beach.
DANIEL CRAIG (6th BOND-1 movie and counting)
Former JAMES BOND star ROGER MOORE insists it doesn't take a "good actor" to play the world's most famous secret agent. Moore - who played the suave superspy in the early 1980s - insists criticism of the decision to cast DANIEL CRAIG as 007 was harsh, because the role doesn't require much talent.
He says, "I am a great defender of Daniel Craig. He's a good actor. People have been so beastly, he's not even had a chance. "Not that you have to be a good actor... you just have to be able to say, 'My name's Bond, James Bond'
But despite offering his support to Craig, the 79-year-old actor isn't looking forward to Casino Royale's cinema release later this month (17NOV06). He says, "The other thing that happens when a new Bond film opens is that I get bad reviews.
"The critics say, 'Thank God, he - whoever he is - wasn't like Roger Moore'."
Casino Royal earned 13 million. More than any other Bond Film.
UPCOMING! QUANTUM OF SOLACE
Showing on November 2008
According to producer Michael G. Wilson, the film will not be utilizing any part of the original Ian Fleming short story "Quantum of Solace" except its title. Apart from James Bond, none of the characters from the short story (Rhoda Llewellyn , Philip Masters and the Governor) are intended for use as character names in the movie.First James Bond movie to take its title from an original Ian Fleming short story since The Living Daylights (1987), a gap of twenty-one years. The Ian Fleming James Bond short story "Quantum of Solace" was an attempt by Fleming to write a more literature serious story somewhat in the vein of W. Somerset Maugham. As such, it is in keeping with the more serious tone and dimension of the EON Production James Bond series which was initiated with Casino Royale (2006).
- The meaning of the film's title "Quantum of Solace" is a small degree of comfort that can exist between two people emotionally in a relationship. According to Ben Macintyre of Times Online, the Governor character in the Ian Fleming short story of the same name defines it as "... a precise figure defining the comfort, humanity and fellow feeling required between two people for love to survive. If the quantum of solace is nil, then love is dead."
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