All James Bonds. Seven brilliant actors in the role of James Bond Who was James Bond really?

Today this is “Bond” - one of the most successful film projects. The actor for the main male role is chosen with unprecedented pickiness, and becoming a “Bond girl” is the dream of the world's leading beauties. Meanwhile, initially well-known Hollywood studios refused to finance films based on Ian Fleming’s novels, considering the story too British and frank.

Barry NELSON (1954)

Many believe that Sean Connery became the first agent 007, but the first attempt to film Fleming’s books was an episode in the American television series “Climax!”, released in 1954. It was filmed based on the book “Casino Royale”, the role of “Jimmy Bond” was played by American actor Barry Nelson.

SEAN CONNERY (1962-1967,1971,1983)

The Scottish actor was unknown at that time, and this role became for him a lucky ticket to the world of cinema. Connery started playing Agent at the age of 32 and finished at 41. Moreover, there was a tough competition. According to the contract, he was supposed to play in 5 Bond films. His fee for Dr. No was a modest 6 thousand pounds, but he subsequently earned more than 18 million dollars from this role.

After the initial euphoria wore off, Connery became frightened at the prospect of becoming a one-man actor. Twice he promised that he would not play Bond again. But the fears turned out to be in vain. In 1971, in Diamonds Are Forever, he was lured by a then fabulous fee of $1.25 million and a share of the rentals. In 1983, the Scot was persuaded to star in his last Bond film, Never Say Never Again. Connery, by the way, is the only Oscar winner among all Bond performers. And in 2000, the British Queen granted him a knighthood. By the way, Connery himself called “From Russia with Love” (1963) his favorite film.

George LAZENBY (1969)

The controversial Australian got into the film by accident and was unable to gain a foothold, despite his stunning appearance and athletic build. He played agent 007 in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, in nine months, the 30-year-old eccentric actor managed to quarrel with both the director and his colleagues. Interestingly, in this film Lazenby performs all his own stunts. This is the only film where Bond marries Countess Tracy, played by Diana Rigg. George Lazenby's fee was $400 thousand. Subsequently, George invested in the film “Universal Soldier” with himself in the leading role, but it failed. Desperate for film fame, Lazenby became very successful in selling real estate.

Roger MOORE (1973-1985)

Roger Moore is British to the core; he is the oldest Bond (he started filming Bond at 46 and finished at 57). Despite all the fears, for 12 years, from the first film (Live and Let Die, 1973) to the last (A View to a Kill, 1985), he successfully completed the mission entrusted to him. Moreover, the audience fell in love with him for his sense of humor and irony, which was more developed than others. Soon after saying goodbye to his hero, Moore quit films. In 1991 he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for fundraising. Now he lives for pleasure with 57-year-old millionaire Christina Tolstrup. Roger Moore's total salary in Bond films was more than 24 million.

Timothy DALTON (1987-1989)

The author of The Bond Encyclopedia, Stephen Rubin, said that Dalton recreated Bond as Fleming himself saw him. By the time he was offered to become a new agent, he had received a good acting education, playing at the Royal Shakespeare Theater. He became Bond at 41 and finished acting at 43.

He played in two films - “Sparks from the Eyes” (1987) and “License to Kill” (1989). His Bond is not so aggressive and sexy, practically devoid of a sense of humor, but the audience fell in love with him because he is not a super machine, but a man, less dependent on technical tricks, with principles and a steely character.

Timothy Dalton refused to play Scarlett for a long time, waiting for the next film.

Dalton waited five years for the third film, turning down the role of Rhett Butler in Scarlett; in the end, he agreed to Rhett, refusing another film about the agent. At the same time, Timothy said that he felt real freedom: “Bond let me go, and I was able to become myself.”

Dalton received high fees: $3 million for the film Sparks from the Eyes, $5 million for the film License to Kill. He was also offered $6 million for the film A Lady's Property (later renamed GoldenEye).

PIERCE BROSNAN (1995-2002)

Oh, that sly look of a predator and a real heartthrob... Irishman Pierce Brosnan spent a long time trying to achieve the role of James, going from a taxi driver to an actor. And not in vain - he was desired by millions of women all over the planet. He starred in four films - GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002). He starred in the first one at the age of 42. Officially ended his Bond career at 49.

Initially, they planned to invite Mel Gibson instead of Dalton, but he, fortunately for Pierce, refused. Gibson was promised 15 million, Brosnan agreed to a tenfold smaller fee. The image of Brosnan's Bond was considered "the way a great agent 007 should look these days." Even Sean Connery himself approved of the follower’s performance, saying: “It amazes me that even after Brosnan they are still going to make new Bond films.” For four films, the actor earned more than $41 million.

Daniel CRAIG (since 2006)

Handsome Craig is the first blond among all the artists who played Bond. He has (so far) four films to his credit: Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, 007: Skyfall and 007: Spectre. He began acting in Bond at the age of 38 and became the highest-grossing and the highly paid James Bond. Each film brings him a fee of at least $10 million. Moreover, the producers spent about 500 million on the creation of the first three films, but earned more than 2 billion at the box office alone! Craig's fee for the fourth film, released in 2015, amounted to almost $46 million, and the film grossed $880 million at the box office. It's scary to imagine how much the 50-year-old Hollywood star will receive for his fifth outing in Bond. The working title of the film is “James Bond 25”, it will be directed by Danny Boyle, director of “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. The premiere is scheduled for the end of 2019.

May 4th, 2016

Now we have already become acquainted with the history,, and even . We had a real story and .

Let's see who was the real prototype of Agent 007. The adventures of James Bond have long become classics of world cinema. The dangerous adventures and amorous connections of the secret agent have never tired of delighting enthusiastic spectators for several decades. Meanwhile, the screen hero was based on a real prototype, acting on the side of British intelligence.

The latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is set in a Macau casino. An obligatory tribute to the origins. Aston Martin, beautiful women and, most importantly, a casino: in the 007 saga created by writer Ian Fleming, it all centers on the Estoril casino in Portugal. It was at these tables on the Atlantic coast during World War II that Fleming first saw James Bond in action.

However, his real name was Popov, Dusko Popov.

Serbian, from a wealthy family, born in 1912, studied in Germany at the University of Farnburg. After he began to be recruited by German intelligence - in the person of a university friend - he went to Belgrade, where he went to the British embassy, deciding to work for the English MI6, becoming a double agent. Popov was a successful lawyer, with genuine business interests in London and Lisbon. Therefore, like many of his colleagues, including Fleming, who worked for Her Majesty, Popov ended up in neutral Portugal in Cascais, a suburb of Lisbon, the spy capital.

A neutral country is an ideal environment for espionage during war. The official departments of the warring parties well financed their reconnaissance vehicles. During the war, as many as fifty special services operated here. Their agents were the "cameras, microphones and computers" of intelligence. The meeting place was the largest casino in Europe, Estoril Palacio.

But the “official spies” were outnumbered by an army of freelance amateurs: waiters, cleaners, taxi drivers and shopkeepers who watched, listened and passed information on to whoever was paying. American intelligence documents from 1943 reported that "a strikingly high proportion of the population is employed by one or more intelligence services." Espionage fever gripped Lisbon, becoming something of a way of spending time for local residents.

American correspondent Polly Peabody noted that spy-like patrons occasionally lingered in bars and cafes, while another part of the clientele waited with intense curiosity for developments or even clashes. At the same time, it was difficult to say which of them were actually spies and which were just visitors to the cafe. In addition, there was another group that was watching everyone. The Portuguese secret police not only arrested spies (usually Germans), but also acted as arbitrators for the parties. Moreover, she was less interested in the foreign workers of the stations than in the Portuguese who worked for them.

The elite spies were double agents. Although many of these people disappeared into unknown destinations after the end of the war, some of them entered the realm of folklore.

Dusan Popov

For example, Garbo, aka Juan Puyol Garcia, whose career as a spy began even more strangely than one might imagine. At the beginning of the war, he had strong beliefs about good and evil and the talent of a notorious liar.

The Spaniard Garbo wanted to be a spy because he really did not like the Germans. He independently contacted the British embassy in Madrid, where they did not believe him at all. Then he contacted the German military intelligence Abwehr, who believed him so much that they sent him to withdraw money in pounds sterling from a Portuguese bank. In Portugal, he either bought or stole an entry visa to Argentina from someone, and took it with him to Madrid, where he invited the Abwehr to go to Britain through Argentina. The Abwehr gave him invisible ink, code books and $3,000.

But Garbo did not go to England. He remained in Lisbon, where he bought a map, a guidebook, and an English-French phrasebook of military terms (since he did not speak English) and used these, along with his unique lying abilities, to report to the Germans on British movements. Which I completely made up. But he did it so well that one of his “reports” on the assembly of the British fleet in Malta forced the Germans to send an interception convoy, simultaneously arousing the interest of MI6 in the “new spy network.”

For six months the German spy Garbo operated “in England,” performing feats of compiling “reports on the enemy’s movements” from Lisbon in the name of the Fatherland. His reports, signed under the pseudonym “Mr. Smith-Jones,” were replete with very valuable strategic information. He conscientiously studied old magazines, extracting from them information about the plans of the British army. One day, having read in a tourist guide about heavy traffic on one of the railway lines, Garcia immediately gave this area a special purpose in the island's defense system. While he received generous rewards from the Abwehr, MI6 could not establish his identity.

And only when he showed up at the American embassy in Lisbon was he recognized, recruited and brought to England. Here it is already under the direct control of MI6 and “the real work has begun.” An imitation intelligence network was built from “an American soldier, a Dutch stewardess, a nationalist from Wales and a pretty typist of an important government agency,” which began to leak disinformation of the highest quality to the Germans. And if at the beginning Garbo’s lies were quite funny, then by 1944, the subtleties and psychology of his reports made him the most reliable of the agents for the Abwehr. And a very valuable asset for the allies.

MI6 made Garbo the center of disinformation to cover up the Anglo-Saxon landings in Normandy. So Garbo turned out to be one of the most successful spies of World War II. And he showed the level of the Abwehr. The activities of Nazi intelligence cannot be called clearly subversive, but the fact that the head of German intelligence, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, participated in conspiracies against Hitler speaks volumes.

The Abwehr was far from the most effective intelligence service. Meanwhile, the Abwehr still managed to penetrate almost every aspect of Portuguese life, from government departments to brothels. The Germans bugged the Foreign Office, Salazar's office, bribed officials and had a much wider network of informants than the British. And they paid their agents 10 times more. Which could not but please the German spies - no matter who they actually worked for. Including the same Dusan Popov.

At the same time, declassified reports say that Dusko never missed an opportunity to spoil the Germans’ fighting mood. Once he even said that Germany would lose this war due to the low morale of the people and the economic crisis.

In Lisbon, Dushko Popov worked with an equally brilliant agent Karstov, who enjoyed espionage. Alone, each of them was effectively a cinematic spy cliché. Popov (code name “Ivan”), drove secretly in Karstov’s car from his Moorish villa in Cascais. He also taught Popov how to avoid surveillance, secret writing, handling hidden cameras and coding, sending messages through his personal secretary, who became his mistress and gambling partner in the casino.

The head of the Iberian branch of MI6 and Popov’s immediate superior on the British side was Kim Philby, who was also a Russian agent who later fled to the Soviet Union. With his colleagues from MI5 - Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, John Caincross (MI6) and Donald Maclean (MFA), now known as the "Cambridge Five". They gave Popov the code name “Tricycle,” apparently because of his penchant for group sex.

He took his mistresses to the Englishbar of the Cimas restaurant, and spent his evenings at the Estoril casino itself. It was there in 1941 that Fleming saw Popov losing in a casino the money allocated for the task - 50 thousand dollars (more than one and a half million at today's exchange rate). However, Popov bluffed against the Lithuanian who held the bank. Thanks to this, he got the main role in the pages of Casino Royale, a novel that Fleming wrote based on Portuguese memories.

Dusan Popov himself wrote in his memoirs “Counter-Spy Spy”: “I was told that Ian Fleming said that he based his James Bond on me. Perhaps this is true. I spoke with Fleming in Lisbon a few days before I left for the United States. He accompanied me everywhere and may have put into the book what happened one night.”

The fact is that Dushko Popov then received 80 thousand dollars from the Abwehr, which were intended to create a German network in the USA. And he decided to annoy Fleming.

“Perhaps Fleming got wind of this matter... I left my room at the Palacio Hotel and went down to the lobby. In the pocket of my evening suit was a thick wad of banknotes. I preferred to carry money with me instead of drawing attention to it by leaving it in the hotel safe. When I noticed Fleming, I didn't think anything of it. Then I went to the bar for a drink before dinner - and ran into him again. He had dinner at the same restaurant as me. All this caught my attention, and I, deciding to check my suspicions, deliberately leisurely entered the park leading to the Estoril Casino. Fleming followed me. Having a man from MI6 on my tail at that moment was funny, I knew that he could only guard the money, but not me. British intelligence had enough reason to trust me. The secrets I carried in my head were much more valuable than 80 thousand dollars...

We walked through the halls of the casino, my “shadow” and I, watching the game. And then I don’t know what the hell possessed me: perhaps Fleming’s constant presence behind me had such an effect on me. But when one of the players in my favorite Bete noire once again began to bluff, I calmly announced: “Fifty thousand dollars!” - and, having counted out the required amount, he placed a substantial wad of bills on the green cloth. Everyone became quiet, I glanced at Fleming. His face turned green with anger.

It was obvious that the presumptuous player did not have that kind of money with him. “I believe,” I turned to the head dealer, “that the casino will support this man’s bet.” He shook his head and refused. In feigned anger, I grabbed the money from the table and, putting it back in my pocket, said: “I hope you will bring this to the attention of the manager so that a similar situation will not happen again in the future.” Fleming was rewarded for his troubles. His face broke into a satisfied smile.”

If you trace Ian Fleming's movements around the world, starting in 1938, the routes will seem mysterious. So, following the example of his older brother, he becomes a reporter for the Reuters agency. Then he goes to Moscow on instructions from the editors. After some time, he again travels to the USSR, where he works as a correspondent for the London Times. At the same time, Flemming collects information for the British Foreign Office - since in the summer of 1933 he becomes the right hand of the head of the British intelligence service MI6 Stuart Menzies.

And the head of MI6 in London himself continued to keep Popov for a top-secret role - receiving information from Canaris about plans to overthrow Hitler.

After the German invasion of Yugoslavia, Popov's cover as a businessman in Lisbon ceases to work, then the Germans find him another assignment - under the cover of an employee of the Yugoslav Ministry of Information, based in New York, to create a German intelligence network. To do this, he improves his playboy image. On his plane ride from Lisbon to New York, his pockets were filled with spy microphotography supplies, crystals to create invisible ink in a glass of wine, used to encode Virginia Woolf's Night and Day, and $80,000 in cash ( mentioned above).

In New York, he stays at the Waldorf Astoria and on the very first day, while walking around Manhattan, he buys a Buick convertible with red leather seats with German money, which catches his eye in the showroom window. After that, he rents an apartment and spends $12,000 on furnishings and a Chinese butler. At the same time, he communicates with stunning women, such as French actress Simone Simone, and does not do any work. As a result, his behavior causes lasting disgust among FBI Director Edgar Hoover (to whom the British “leased” Popov), and also turns out to be unable to find a single German spy in the United States. His expenses are rising and the Germans are refusing to send him more money.

As a result, Hoover showed Popov the door, ignoring the dossier Dusan Popov received from the Germans about the upcoming attack on Pearl Harbor (it is very likely that he did this on purpose, taking into account that the Finiteli wanted the United States to enter the war). And MI6 had to recall him to London.

Although Popov did not achieve results for the Germans during his stay in New York, they give him another $25,000 to return. But MI6 is not particularly angry with him. The head of MI5 later noted in his memoirs that “Popov's ability to persuade the Germans by brute force of personality was remarkable,” making him an invaluable conduit for disinformation, attractive to both the Germans and the British.

As an undercover plan, he was involved in organizing the “pseudo escape” of 150 Yugoslav military officials to the UK. While traveling through France, the group was infiltrated by German spies, and then, once they were in Gibraltar, they all became double agents for Britain. This plan significantly strengthened Popov’s network of agents and allowed him to meet his brother Ivo, with whom he hoped to return to England. He did not know that he was a double agent, although both worked for the British.

While Ian Fleming was keeping an eye on Popov, another British novelist was writing about another secret agent, codenamed Ostro, who, along with Garbo and Tricycle, provided excellent character material. Graham Greene also worked with Kim Philby for a short time in the British intelligence office while they were hounding on a spy who was acting as a double agent but was not under their control. MI6 discovered that Ostro had direct access to the German High Command and its ability to remain undetected was very dangerous.

Information about Ostro, aka Paul Fidrmuc, was sketchy, but the British said that he supplied false information to German intelligence. Wildly and extravagantly false. What was particularly galling, and enough for MI6 to plan his assassination, was that senior German military officials came to Lisbon to consult with him and receive reports “so confidential that they could only be obtained by direct contact.” Reports that British intelligence preferred to call “bad humor” and “fantastically wrong.” Meanwhile, Ostro's forecasts were frighteningly accurate - according to information he received from a member of Field Marshal Montgomery's staff, the landing would take place on the Cherbourg Peninsula, which he told the Germans, perhaps without knowing, that he had made one of the most important intelligence reports of the second half of the Second World War. World War.

But the Germans took no action on this news, as they listened to Garbo's "more convincing" reports, which reported that Normandy was only a diversion and the real invasion would take place in the Pas de Calais. Both spies survived the war, although little is known about Paul Fidrmuc after he was released by American authorities. They found nothing to accuse him of, he was not a member of the Nazi Party, and was not involved in war crimes.

More in keeping with his spy novel image, Garbo first falsified documents about his death and then fled to Venezuela, where he ran a gift shop for nearly 40 years until his death in 1988.

After the war, Popov settled down. He died in 1981 at the age of 69, leaving behind three children and his wife Jill, a 30-year-old Swede who would look good next to all sorts of James Bonds in all the casinos of the world.

They all fought as best they could for the happiness of the private owners of the Bank of England. It is no coincidence that the activities of British intelligence are financed from Her Majesty’s personal funds. (Secret Intelligence Service, SIS), MI6 (Military Intelligence, MI6) is the government foreign intelligence agency of Great Britain. Before the adoption of the Intelligence Service Act by Parliament in 1994, it did not have any legal basis for its existence and activities, and its very existence has not been confirmed by the Government of the United Kingdom.)

sources

Biography of James Bond

Born in Scotland to Andrew Bond and Maurice Delacroix Bond between 16 and 21 November 1924. He spent his childhood in Moscow, where his father was a representative of the English arms company Vickers. After the death of his parents in a car accident in November 1935, he returned to England. In 1938 he entered Eton and was expelled from college in 1940. Spring 1941 is Bond's first romance novel. That same year, he enlisted in the Ministry of Defense, correcting his age in his documents from 17 to 19 years. Participated in the Second World War, was wounded (the scar on his face remained for life). In 1946 he joined the British secret service MI6. In 1950, he received the number 007 and the right to kill while performing official assignments. Conducted at least 22 secret operations - all successfully. At the end of 1961 he got married and on the same day became a widower. He went missing in June 1964, two months before Ian Flemming's death.

Many researchers find in Fleming's character a romanticized image of the author himself - a ladies' man. Both Fleming and Bond attended the same schools, prefer the same foods (scrambled eggs and coffee), have similar habits, like the same women, and finally both had similar careers in the navy, rising to the rank of commander .

At the age of 42, Fleming moved to Jamaica. There, at the GoldenEye villa surrounded by tropical greenery, he drank gin and experienced the collapse of the empire. He found some outlet for his nostalgic feelings in the fact that he began to describe the adventures of an invincible agent of the British Secret Service, whom he named after the author of a book about the feathered inhabitants of the Caribbean islands that came to hand ( "Birds of the West Indies") ornithologist James Bond. Fleming, himself an avid bird watcher, had this book in his library. In his Reader's Digest interview, Ian Fleming noted that he needed a simple and neutral name - "a blunt, anonymous instrument of government, a neutral figure surrounded by exoticism." Ornithologist James Bond was extremely offended by the use of his name as a name for a spy. In retaliation, he christened a rather unpleasant bird he found in India “Fleming”.

Bond's serial number - 007 - according to one version, Fleming borrowed from the English spy John Dee, who signed his secret reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a glyph depicting two circles and an angle bracket similar to the number seven. The glyph indicated that the reports were intended exclusively for the eyes of the monarch.

Thus, James Bond, an officer of the British intelligence service MI6, a reserve commander in the Royal Navy and a holder of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, was born. His parents were Andrew Bond, a Scot from Argyll, and Monique Delacroix from the Swiss canton of Vaud. The nationalities of Bond's parents were mentioned in the book On Her Majesty's Secret Service. There is no consensus regarding the date of birth of James Bond; John Pearson is mentioned on November 11, 1920 in his biography. At the same time, the book Casino Royale states that Bond bought the car in 1933, and became an experienced gambler in the pre-war years. Two books later, in Moonraker, Bond reveals that he is about 35 years old, while the plot dates back to 1954. It is also stated in You Only Live Twice that James Bond was born in the Year of the Rat (/or/).

In the novella On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the Bond family motto is mentioned: "Orbis non sufficiit"("And the whole world is not enough"). However, at the same time, it is noted that the Bond family with such a motto is not necessarily the same Bonds that James belongs to.

Fleming treated his work and his hero without respect. In a conversation with the American detective writer Raymond Chandler, Fleming self-critically said: “If anyone has even an ounce of intelligence, he is unlikely to seriously talk about such a hero as Bond.” However, this did not stop him from writing a dozen stories that sold about 40 million copies. Lowly fantasies fell into the fertile psychological soil of the peak of the Cold War. In addition, readers found in the hero and his adventures something that a person is deprived of in everyday life: a kaleidoscope of exotic countries and places, charm and masculine strength that no beauty can resist, the ability to escape from any pursuit, drink without getting drunk, and more.

Although James Bond is a secret agent for MI6, he has appeared on camera several times in his official Royal Navy Commander's uniform.

We learn about Bond's life from Fleming's novels:

№	Name	Year
1.	Casino Royale	1953
2.	Live and let die	1954
3.	Moonraker	1955
4.	Diamonds are forever	1956
5.	From Russia with love	1957
6.	Dr. No	1958
7.	Goldfinger	1959
8.	For your eyes only(storybook)	1960
9.	Ball lightning	1961
10.	The Spy Who Loved Me	1962
11.	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	1963
12.	You only live twice	1964
13.	The Man with the Golden Gun	1965

The first James Bond film

The first attempt to film the James Bond books was an episode in the American television series “Climax!” (“Climax!”), released in 1954. The episode was based on Fleming's first book, Casino Royale, and the role of Jimmy Bond was played by American actor Barry Nelson. Ian Fleming wanted to go further and invited the famous British film producer Alexander Korda to film another book - Live and Let Die or Moonraker, but Korda was not interested. On 1 October 1959, Fleming announced that he would write the original Bond film script for Irish film producer Kevin McClory. Famous screenwriter Jack Whittingham was also involved in working on the script. It was planned to invite Alfred Hitchcock to the director's place, and Richard Burton to play the role of Bond, but later their candidates were abandoned. It soon became clear that McClory was unable to secure financing, and the film had to be canceled. Fleming used the script for his next novel, Thunderball ().

Bond girls

In the film adaptations of the novels, Bond appears to the viewer as a kind of hero-lover, while in the books James was not so loving. But how can you not become a Casanova with such young ladies?

Ursula Andress in the movie Dr. No

The first Bond girl was Swiss actress Ursula Andress.

The girl began her film career at the suggestion of Marlon Brando, who noticed a talented fashion model in Rome. Her role in the first Bond film, Dr. No, brought Andress real fame and overnight made the girl a European sex symbol. In the film, Andress played the beautiful shell diver Hunny Ryder. In the film, Andress wore fake tan and was voiced by another actress. Ursula received only $10,000 for starring in Bond. Hunny Ryder remains the most memorable film image of the actress, but many still consider her one of the sexiest James Bond girls. In 1968, Andress starred in the 007 parody film Casino Royale.

Vice-Miss Universe 1960 Daniela Bianchi became the next contender for the heart of agent 007. The film “From Russia with Love,” in which Bianchi played the role of Tatiana Romanova, an employee of the Soviet consulate in Turkey, became her calling card. After the release of the film, Bianchi was often invited to films, but subsequent roles did not bring the actress much fame.

Unlike Ursula Andress and Daniela Bianchi, Honor Blackman received the role of 007's girlfriend, already being a fairly well-known actress in Europe. She gained popularity for her role as Cathy Gale in the British television series The Avengers. This success prompted producer Albert Broccoli to invite Blackman to play pilot Pussy Galore in the film Goldfinger, despite the fact that American audiences had not seen Honor before. “The British will love it because they remember Katie Gale, and the Americans will love it simply because it’s so good. It's the perfect combination," Broccoli said. Blackman became the first and one of two actresses who was older than the Bond actor, and she is also still the oldest 007 girl - at the time of filming, Blackman was 38 years old.

Frenchwoman Claudine Auger was vacationing in the Bahamas, where she was noticed by producer Kevin McLaury, who offered her a role in the next Bond film. The girl impressed McLaury so much that the role of Domino, whose name in the first version of the script was Dominetta Petacci, was rewritten as Auger. Before filming began, the actress took English lessons, but her character in the film was still voiced by Nikki van der Zyl.

Japanese actress Akiko Wakabayashi was initially cast as Kissy Suzuki, while the larger role of Aki was to be played by Mie Hama. According to the plot, both girls are agents of the head of Japanese intelligence Tanako, but Aki becomes the chosen one of agent 007. Due to problems with Mie Hama learning English, it was decided that the main female role would be played by Akiko Wakabayashi, at whose request the Bond girl in You Only Live Twice is named Aki (in the first version of the script, the name Suki is indicated). After the role of Aki, Wakabayashi starred in only one film and decided to leave cinema. In an interview, the actress admitted that she was “tired of the huge number of problems that arose during filming.”

Diana Rigg, On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Diana Rigg played not just a Bond girl, but his only wife, Teresa di Vicenzo. According to the plot of the sixth episode of the Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” the agent’s wife (played by George Lazenby) dies immediately after the wedding ceremony - one of Bond’s enemies decided to take revenge on the newlyweds, but agent 007, unlike his wife, manages to escape. As Rigg later admitted, she agreed to this role in the hope of gaining popularity in America. During filming, rumors appeared that the work was not going smoothly - a conflict had arisen between the leading actors. However, both Rigg and Lazenby denied all speculation and only laughed it off when asked about the quarrel.

The role of Tiffany Case, who goes with James Bond to investigate the theft of South African diamonds, has become the most famous film work of the American Jill St. John. The heroine's name was chosen by representatives of the film's sponsor, the Tiffany jewelry company. Raquel Welch, Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway also auditioned for the leading female role. Jill St. John became Bond's first American girlfriend, and Sean Connery played 007 himself for the last time.

Jane Seymour became famous after the release of the film Live and Let Die, where Roger Moore played Bond for the first time. If until 1973 the actress was popular only in her homeland, then thanks to the role of Solitaire the whole world learned about her. Subsequently, the IGN portal included Seymour in the top 10 best Bond girls, giving the actress 10th place. However, many viewers remembered the actress more thanks to the television series “Dr. Quinn, Female Doctor.”

In the ninth film about the English superspy, The Man with the Golden Gun, Bond was played for the second time by Roger Moore, and his partner was the Swedish actress Britt Ekland. In the film, Ekland played the role of MI6 agent Mary Goodnight, with whom Bond escapes from the blown-up island of the main villain, Francisco Scaramanga.

The role of the Soviet spy Anya Amasova in the tenth episode of the Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me” made Barbara Bach a real sex symbol of the time. And the actress herself, after filming, called Bond “a chauvinist who uses girls to shield himself from bullets.” After Bond, Barbara was not very lucky with movie roles, but everything turned out better in her personal life - in 1981, the actress married ex-drummer of The Beatles, Ringo Starr.

Actress Lois Chiles was offered to become a Bond girl even before filming of the tenth episode began, but then the actress decided to take a break from her career. In 1979, Chiles returned to the profession and accepted the role that remained the most famous of her career - space explorer and part-time CIA agent Holly Goodhead in the film Moonraker.

Carole Bouquet, "For Your Eyes Only"

The beautiful Carole Bouquet received a role in the 12th episode of the Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only.” In the film, she played Melina Havelock, who wants to take revenge for her family. Unlike many Bond girls, Bouquet managed to have a successful film career: in 1990 she received a Cesar Award for her role in the film Too Beautiful for You and for a long time was a leading model for Chanel.

Before becoming a Bond girl, Maude Adams had already acted once in a Bond film - in the film “The Man with the Golden Gun” she played the role of Andrea Anders. The producer of the film series liked working with the actress, and he invited her to play the leading female role in the 13th film about agent 007. In the film, Adams played a mysterious woman nicknamed Octopussy, who invites Bond to live on her personal island. In Adams's first Bond film, her heroine did not live to see the final credits, but in Octopussy, Bond and his lover escaped death by jumping out of a falling plane. “How can you not be happy that you became a Bond girl? This is modern culture, and it’s great to be part of it,” the actress later admitted.

In the film A View to a Kill, the charming geologist Stacey Sutton was played by American Tanya Roberts. Her heroine, who even has to drive a fire truck throughout the film, helps Bond uncover the evil plan of the villain Max Zorin (played by Christopher Walken) to flood Silicon Valley. Later, she was nominated twice for the Golden Raspberry anti-award as worst actress.

The 15th episode of the Bond film, “Sparks from the Eyes,” was the first for Timothy Dalton, and the Englishwoman Maryam d’Abo became the partner of the new Bond. The actress played the role of cellist and pseudo-sniper from Bratislava Kara Milovy, with whom the superspy falls in love. D'Abo starred for the cover of Playboy, dedicated to the release of the next film about the adventures of James Bond. “I wouldn’t do this now... I’ve understood a lot since then,” the actress said later.

The next lover of the superspy, CIA pilot Pam Beauvier, was played by American actress Carey Lowell. In the story, Bond (for the second and last time played by Timothy Dalton) and Beauvier fight the influential drug lord Frank Sanchez. The role of the Bond girl became the most notable in Carrie Lowell's career, and her subsequent work includes the series Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Isabella Scorupco in the movie "GoldenEye"

Actress Izabella Scorupco played the second Bond girl from the Soviet Union in the film GoldenEye, and Pierce Brosnan played Agent 007 for the first time. Programmer Natalya Simonova, together with Bond, confronts the main villain of the series, agent 006 Alec Travelyan. Before becoming a super-agent's girlfriend, Isabella Scorupco was a successful singer: her album IZA went gold in Sweden in 1991.

The role of Colonel Wei Lin of the Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China in the film Tomorrow Never Dies was played by Malaysian actress of Chinese origin Michelle Yeoh. The creators of the film, it seems, did not regret their choice at all: in particular, Bond actor Pierce Brosnan described his partner as “a wonderful actress who is completely focused on her work.” In the film, Michelle Yeoh performed most of her own stunts, leading Brosnan to call her "the female version of James Bond." After Bond, Michelle's career went uphill, as they say - she has roles in films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Sophie Marceau in the 19th episode of the Bond film got the role of the insidious Electra King, the kidnapped daughter of a large English businessman. During the mission, Bond meets Elektra and spends time with her in the mountains. The girl pretends to be in love with the superspy, but later it turns out that she is in league with her kidnapper, the terrorist Renard. At the end of the film, Bond kills his former lover, and, as always, he emerges victorious. It cannot be said that for the actress this role became a turning point in her career - both before and after the Bond film, Marceau was one of the main faces of French cinema.

Halle Berry, who played Jacinta Johnson in the film Die Another Day, by the start of filming was already not only a famous actress, but also an Oscar winner for the film Monster's Ball. "Die Another Day" was released on the 40th anniversary of Bond and contains references to other films about agent 007. Thus, the scene where Berry comes ashore in a bikini was taken from the very first film - "Dr. No" with Ursula Andress . By the way, Berry became the first black Bond girl. But filming was dangerous for the actress: in the scene with the helicopter explosion, a grenade fragment hit the actress’s eye, after which Berry was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery. Another time, the actress choked on a bone, but her partner on the set was saved by Pierce Brosnan, who arrived in time.

Eva Green received an offer to play James Bond girl in 2005, but decided to turn down the role. Director Martin Campbell saw the actress’s performance in the film “Kingdom of Heaven” and again offered her a role in “Casino Royale”. After reading the script, Green came to the conclusion that Vesper Lynd was much more interesting and deeper than all the other girls of the superspy, and agreed. Vesper is the true love of the last sixth Bond, Daniel Craig, even after her death, Bond in the next film still suffers, although he tries not to show it. The actress's work in Casino Royale was well received by viewers and critics: Entertainment Weekly magazine included her in the top four Bond girls, and the British public awarded her a BAFTA Award.

The Bond producers chose 28-year-old Olga Kurylenko for the role of Bolivian secret service spy Camilla Montes in the film Quantum of Solace. Many fans of the superspy remember her character as the only girl 007 failed to seduce. Meanwhile, Kurylenko herself approached the role extremely seriously. “Preparing for Quantum of Solace was incredible... I learned different tricks in the month before we started filming. It was quite intense, but I liked that I was not a typical Bond girl - according to the script, I acted a lot on my own and fought,” said the actress.

The 23rd James Bond film “007: Skyfall” was released at the end of October last year. Daniel Craig's company in the film was made up of the Frenchwoman Berenice Marlowe and the British Naomie Harris. The film, like the two previous series, tells the story of Bond's early years in the service of Her Majesty.

What else did Agent 007 do besides pay attention to women? Of course, he fought against evil. Over the years of his life, Mr. Bond has faced a lot of opponents. Here are just a few names.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld- head of the terrorist organization SPECTER and one of the main enemies of the secret agent of the English secret service Mi-6 James Bond. An avid cat lover, in some films it is the cats petted by Blofeld who appear in the frame instead of him.

Dr. No

Dr. No, a Chinese man who was once the treasurer of China's largest criminal organization, escaped with a huge sum of money and eventually joined the terrorist organization SPECTER. He headed the SPECTER base on the island of Crab Key, from which he shot down American missiles using a powerful laser cannon.

Joz (Jaws)

This charming assassin - a giant with iron teeth, played by American actor Richard Kiel, was remembered by many. First appears in The Spy Who Loved Me, where he works for Stromberg. After Stromberg's death, the hunt for Bond continues. In the movie "Moonraker" ( Moonraker), when Bond kills the villain's regular hitman Drax, the latter hires Jaws. In the same film, he met his love - a miniature blonde named Dolly, because of whom he began to help Bond (since everyone who did not fit the definition of superhumans (including her and him) had to be destroyed). He and his girlfriend remained the last one on the only module of Drax’s space station that did not explode, but, according to American special forces, he was rescued from there. Consequently, he lived on without interfering with Bond.

Mr White

Mr. White first appears in the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Apparently, he heads the Quantum organization, which Bond fights in the latest films. He was captured by Bond and brought to an MI6 field base for interrogation, but managed to escape despite being wounded twice.

The James Bond spy series is one of the longest running and most successful in film history. The next Bond film is called “007: Spectrum”, and its premiere took place on October 26 this year in London. Such a significant event prompted us to come up with a topic for another collection of facts.

Ian Fleming - head of the secret unit

The author of a series of adventure novels about James Bond, which later formed the basis of films, is Ian Fleming. Unlike many other authors who come up with their stories in the quiet of cozy offices and never held anything in their hands except a pen, he was well acquainted with all the intricacies of the work of secret agents. During the Second World War, Ian Fleming was the leader of No.30 Commando, a special unit of British commandos. It was created to conduct special reconnaissance operations behind enemy lines and on the front line, such as capturing military maps, samples of advanced German military equipment, as well as German military specialists and scientists.

Odessa resident became the prototype of James Bond

Several intelligence officers whose biographies and activities were known to Fleming due to their duty served as the prototype for James Bond. But most often, among others, researchers name the name of Sidney Reilly, the famous British spy who operated in the 1910–1920s in Russia and the Middle East. This personality is completely mysterious, surrounded by secrets, adventures and adventures. Interestingly, Reilly was actually born in 1873 in Odessa under the name Solomon Rosenblum.

The most boring name in the world

According to the author's recollections, he wanted to give his hero the most boring and inconspicuous name. One day he came across a book by ornithologist James Bond standing on a shelf in his office, and he realized that this was exactly what he needed. The scientist James Bond was subsequently very dissatisfied with the super-popularity of his namesake, a literary hero, and in February 1964 he decided to express this to Ian Fleming personally. However, the conflict was resolved, and the ornithologist received a new Bond novel with the dedication “To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity” as compensation.

Agent 007

Everyone knows that James Bond is agent 007. But why exactly this number? According to one version, this number was borrowed by the author from the English spy John Dee, who signed his secret reports with a symbol depicting two circles and an angle bracket similar to the number seven. This meant that the information was intended solely for the eyes of His Royal Majesty.

Some statistics

James Bond films are unthinkable without shooting, car chases and beautiful women. Fans of numbers have calculated that over the entire period of time, the on-screen hero killed 352 people and fired 4,662 shots. Not very good performance. But James Bond handles the ladies more skillfully: he managed to sleep with 52 women in 22 films. I wonder whether the release of “007: Spectrum” will change these statistics?

Weapon

Ian Fleming armed his literary hero with a Walther PPK pistol of the 1931 model. However, when making the film in 1963, the producers felt that on the poster this model in the hands of Sean Connery did not look impressive enough. Then, in a nearby store, a pneumatic Walther Luftpistole 53 was purchased, which looked solid, but could shoot tens of meters. This mistake subsequently greatly amused all gun experts and lovers. And that same toy gun was sold in 2010 at a Christis auction for £277,000.

Place of work

All fans of James Bond films know very well that he works for the British secret intelligence service MI6 (Military Intelligence, MI6). Interestingly, until 1994, this foreign intelligence unit did not have any legal basis, and its existence was strongly denied by the British government.

Will you go to the premiere of the new James Bond film?

When Ian Fleming was asked why he chose this name for James Bond, he replied: “I wanted the simplest, most boring, boring name in the world.” He came across this on the cover of a book about birds of the West Indies.

2

In different films, agents 002, 003, 004 and 009 were killed. Agent 006 was considered killed, but, as it turned out in the film “GoldenEye,” he went over to the side of evil and was killed there. Apart from 007, only 008 is qualified enough to replace Bond if he dies. Agents 001 and 005 were never mentioned in Bond.

3

Aston Martin DB10

In the entire history of James Bond, Daniel Craig was the only one allowed to take any Aston Martin from the factory for the rest of his life.

4

Clint Eastwood, Adam West and Burt Reynolds were offered to play the agent, but they all refused, being convinced that only a Briton could play 007.

5

Sean Connery in the movie Never Say Never Again

Sean Connery wore a wig in every Bond series - he started going bald at 21.

6

George Lazenby was not an actor: he simply bought himself a suit, a Rolex, got a fresh haircut and went to the casting - where he was approved for the role of an agent.

7

Pierce Brosnan in the movie Die Another Day

According to his contract, Pierce Brosnan could not wear a tuxedo in any other non-Bond film while he was starring as Bond.

8

John Kennedy was a huge Bond fan - and From Russia with Love was the last film he saw before his death, on the eve of his visit to Dallas.

9

While preparing for Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery took martial arts lessons and pissed off his trainer so much that he broke his wrist. The trainer was Steven Seagal.

10

Liam Neeson was offered the role of Bond in GoldenEye, but he turned it down.

11

James Bond was based on a real spy, Wilfrid "Biffy" Dunderdale, an MI6 agent in Paris. He was a friend of Fleming, and some of Biffy's stories became the basis for 007 stories.

12

The British government denied the existence of MI6 until 1994.

13

The gun Bond prefers to use, the Walther PPK, is the same model that Hitler used to shoot himself.

14

There is only one robot in the Aston Martin factory that glues aluminum body panels together, and his name is "James Bonder".

15

The script for the film You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl.

16

James Bond was shot 4,662 times throughout his career.

17

Ian Fleming was one of the most important special agents during World War II. His call sign was 17F and he was the commander of Special Unit 30AU.

18

James Bond is a heavy smoker. He smokes 70 cigarettes a day. Fleming himself smoked 80.

19

In films where Bond is played by Daniel Craig, M's real name is Olivia Mansfield.

20

Fleming wrote Bond's obituary in You Only Live Twice. Based on it, it is known that Bond's parents were Scotsman Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix from Switzerland. Bond Sr. worked at a weapons company and traveled often. Bond's parents died when James was 11 (a mountain trekking accident), he then lived with an aunt in England, studied at Eton and Fetts College in Edinburgh, graduating at 17, after which he enlisted in the Royal Marines.

21

“The World Is Not Enough” is a Bond family motto.

22

The stunt from Casino Royale involving a flipping Aston Martin broke the world record for the most number of flips. The car made seven complete revolutions.

23

Ursula Andress was voiced by Niki van der Zyl - Andress's accent was too strong.

24

In all the scenes where Roger Moore was supposed to run, he was replaced by a stunt double - it seemed to Moore that he was running very ridiculously.

25

Roger Moore had hoplophobia, a fear of guns that began as a child when his brother accidentally shot him in the leg.

26

John Kennedy consulted with Fleming on how to fight Fidel Castro in Cuba.

27

Daniel Craig received 85 identical suits from Tom Ford for the opening scenes in Skyfall.

28

Goldfinger was the first film in history to feature a laser beam.

29

During World War II, Ian Fleming visited Jamaica, after which he bought the GoldenEye villa there, where he wrote 14 novels about the agent - the film was named after her.

In Casino Royale, it is stated that the agent's birthday is April 13, 1968. On the same day, the novel Casino Royale was published, and in the same year, Daniel Craig was born.

36

After Fleming's death, his estate in Jamaica was sold to Bob Marley. Bob Marley then sold it to Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.

37

One of the main fans of the Bond novels is Hugh Hefner. It's clear why.

38

Ursula Andress, many years later, found that same swimsuit in her attic and sold it at Christie's for 35 thousand pounds.

39

John Barry, who arranged the Bond theme, received only £200 for his work.

40

In 1995, Fleming's typewriter was sold at auction for £50,000.

41

To prevent actress Shirley Eaton from dying while covered in gold paint on the set of Goldfinger, her stomach and nipples were left unpainted and she was given a thong.

42

In the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond meets Teresa di Vincenzo, whom he marries - family happiness will not last long: the agent's wife will be killed on the way to their honeymoon.

43

Bond's official titles are Commander of the Royal Navy, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Navy Commander James Bond, Royal Navy Reserve Volunteer.

44

45

Bond is fluent in German and French.

46

Bond lost his virginity at age 16 while visiting Paris for the first time, as documented in A View to a Kill.

47

Bond was taught to ski by Hans Oberhauser in Kitzbühel.

48

Bond briefly studied at the University of Geneva (as did Fleming himself).

49

Bond lives in a flat off the King's Road in Chelsea, looked after by elderly housewife May.

50

In 1955, Bond earned two thousand pounds a year (which is about 40 thousand pounds in today's money).

51

The only time in the entire history of the Bond film Bond let someone else into his apartment was the girl from Diamonds Are Forever, who ordered a Tiffany box from this exact address.

52

Kissy Suzuki, with whom Bond was having an affair, became pregnant by the agent, but did not tell him anything.

53

In the book Never Send Flowers, it was mentioned that Bond went to Disneyland with his girlfriend, intending to stay there for a couple of days, but he liked it so much that they stayed for a week.

54

Bond hates tea, considers it "dirt" and blames it for the decline of the British Empire. The agent prefers coffee.

55

Bond likes a black Ronson to light his cigarettes.

56

Bond also does not shun drugs: both for official and recreational purposes: in Moonraker, for example, he uses the amphetamine Benzedrine with champagne.