1.
James Bond (literary character)
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Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR, is a fictional character created by British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics, Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections, although the last two books—The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights—were published posthumously. The Bond character is a Secret Service agent, code number 007, residing in London but active internationally. Bond has a number of traits which run throughout the books, including an enjoyment of cars, a love of food and drink. There have also other authors who wrote one book each, Kingsley Amis, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd. Additionally, a series of novels based on Bonds youth—Young Bond—was written by Charlie Higson, as spin-offs from the literary works, there was a television adaptation of the first novel, Casino Royale, in which Bond was played as an American agent. A comic strip also ran in the Daily Express newspaper. There have been 26 Bond films, seven actors have played Bond in these films, the central figure in Ian Flemings work was the fictional character of James Bond, an intelligence officer in the Secret Service. Bond was also known by his number,007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. During World War II, Ian Fleming had mentioned to friends that he wanted to write a spy novel. It was not until 1952, however, shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, Ann Charteris and he finished work on the manuscript in just over a month, completing it on 18 March 1952. Fleming went on to write a total of twelve Bond novels, the last two books—The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights—were published posthumously. Among those types were his brother, Peter, whom Fleming worshipped, sir Fitzroy Maclean was another figure mentioned as a possibility, based on his wartime work behind enemy lines in the Balkans, as was the MI6 double agent Dušan Popov. Distinct similarities between the protagonist in The Life Line, Mark Chalmers and James Bond have been highlighted by spy writer, Nigel West. On another occasion Fleming said, I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, after Fleming met the ornithologist and his wife, he described them as a charming couple who are amused by the whole joke. In the first draft of Casino Royale he decided to use the name James Secretan as Bonds cover name while on missions, Bonds number—007—was assigned by Fleming in reference to one of British naval intelligences key achievements of World War I, the breaking of the German diplomatic code. One of the German documents cracked and read by the British was the Zimmermann Telegram, which was coded 0075, facially, Bond resembles the composer, singer and actor Hoagy Carmichael
James Bond (literary character)
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Ian Fleming 's image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the
Daily Express comic strip artists.
James Bond (literary character)
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James Bond,
ornithologist; provider of Bond's name
James Bond (literary character)
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Fleming compares Bond's appearance to
Hoagy Carmichael.
James Bond (literary character)
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Eton College: Bond's alma mater for two halves.
2.
James Bond (ornithologist)
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James Bond was a leading American ornithologist, an expert on the birds of the Caribbean. His name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy of the same name, Bond was born on January 4,1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Margaret Reeves and Francis Edward Bond. His interest in history was spurred by an expedition his father undertook in 1911 to the Orinoco Delta. Bond was originally educated at St. Pauls School in Concord, New Hampshire, there he studied at Harrow and later Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a B. A. in 1922 and was the sole American member of the Pitt Club. After graduating he moved back to the United States and worked for a firm for three years in Philadelphia. An interest in natural history prompted him to quit and accept a place on an expedition to the Amazon run by the Academy of Natural Sciences, subsequently he worked as an ornithologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences in that city, rising to become curator of ornithology there. He was an expert in Caribbean birds and wrote the book on the subject, Birds of the West Indies. Bond won the Institute of Jamaicas Musgrave Medal in 1952, the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists Union in 1954, and he died in the Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia at age 89. He is interred in the yard at Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd Valley. Bond is survived by his wife, a stepdaughter, Mary Eiseman, Fleming wrote to the real Bonds wife, It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born. He also contacted the real James Bond about using his name in the books, at some point during one of Flemings visits to Jamaica he met with the real Bond and his wife as shown in a made-for-DVD documentary about Fleming. A short clip was shown with Fleming, Bond and his wife, No Fleming referenced Bonds work by basing a large ornithological sanctuary on Dr. Nos island in the Bahamas. In 1964, Fleming gave Bond a first edition copy of You Only Live Twice signed, To the real James Bond, in December 2008 the book was put up for auction, eventually fetching $84,000. In the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, the fictional Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, can be seen examining Birds of the West Indies in a scene that takes place in Havana. The authors name on the front cover is obscured, in the same film, when Bond first meets Jinx, he introduces himself as an ornithologist. In the 2015 Bond film Spectre, the book was seen in a promotional on-set photo. However, it is nowhere to be found in the finalized film, in the ITV Miss Marple murder mystery, A Caribbean Mystery, broadcast on 16 June 2013, Miss Marple meets Ian Fleming at a talk on Birds of the West Indies, given by James Bond. Before the talk begins, Fleming tells Miss Marple that hes working on a new book, when the speaker introduced himself, Fleming has a moment of inspiration and reaches for his notebook
James Bond (ornithologist)
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Portrait of James Bond in 1974
3.
Ian Fleming
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Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels. Fleming came from a family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva and his wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background, detail and depth of the James Bond novels. Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952 and it was a success, with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand. Eleven Bond novels and two short-story collections followed between 1953 and 1966, the novels revolved around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Bond was also known by his number,007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. The Bond stories rank among the series of fictional books of all time. Fleming also wrote the childrens story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction, in 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Fleming was married to Ann Charteris, who was divorced from the second Viscount Rothermere owing to her affair with the author, Fleming and Charteris had a son, Caspar. Fleming was a smoker and drinker for most of his life. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously, other writers have since produced Bond novels, Flemings creation has appeared in film twenty-six times, portrayed by seven actors. Ian Fleming was born on 28 May 1908, at 27 Green Street in the wealthy London district of Mayfair and his mother was Evelyn St Croix Rose, and his father was Valentine Fleming, the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910. As an infant he lived, with his family, at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire. Fleming was the grandson of the Scottish financier Robert Fleming, who founded the Scottish American Investment Trust, in 1914, with the start of the First World War, Valentine joined C Squadron, Queens Own Oxfordshire Hussars, and rose to the rank of major. He was killed by German shelling on the Western Front on 20 May 1917, because the family owned an estate at Arnisdale, Valentines death was commemorated on the Glenelg War Memorial. Flemings elder brother Peter became a writer and married actress Celia Johnson. Fleming also had two brothers, Michael and Richard, and a younger maternal half-sister born out of wedlock, cellist Amaryllis Fleming. Amaryllis was conceived during an affair between John and Evelyn that started in 1923, some six years after the death of Valentine
Ian Fleming
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Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
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The
Glenelg War Memorial, listing
Valentine Fleming
Ian Fleming
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Eton College: Fleming's alma mater from 1921 to 1927
Ian Fleming
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The Admiralty, where Fleming worked in the
Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War
4.
Daily Express
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The Daily Express is a daily national middle market tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is the title of Express Newspapers, a subsidiary of Northern & Shell. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson and its sister paper The Sunday Express was launched in 1918. As of December 2016, it had a daily circulation of 391,626. The paper was acquired by Richard Desmond in 2000, hugh Whittow has served as the papers editor since February of 2011. The papers editorial stances are often seen as aligned to the UK Independence Party, in addition to its sister paper, Express Newspapers also publishes the red top newspapers the Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday. The Daily Express was founded in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson, Pearson, who had lost his sight to glaucoma in 1913, sold the title to the future Lord Beaverbrook in 1916. It was one of the first papers to place instead of advertisements on its front page along with carrying gossip, sports. It was also the first newspaper in Britain to have a crossword puzzle, the Express began printing copies in Manchester in 1927 and in 1931, the publication moved to 120 Fleet Street, a specially commissioned art deco building. Under Beaverbrook, the newspaper achieved a high circulation, setting records for newspaper sales several times throughout the 1930s. Its success was due to its aggressive marketing campaign and a vigorous circulation war with other populist newspapers. Beaverbrook also discovered and encouraged an editor named Arthur Christiansen who, at an early age, showed talent for writing. Christiansen became editor in October 1933, under his editorial direction sales climbed from two million in 1936 to four million in 1949. The paper also featured Alfred Bestalls Rupert Bear cartoon and satirical cartoons by Carl Giles which it began publishing in the 1940s, on 24 March 1933, a front page headline titled Judea Declares War on Germany was published by the Daily Express. During the late thirties, the paper was an advocate of the appeasement policies of the Chamberlain government. The ruralist author Henry Williamson wrote for the paper on many occasions for half a century and he also wrote for the Sunday Express at the beginning of his career. In 1938, the moved to the Daily Express Building. It opened a building in Glasgow in 1936 in Albion Street
Daily Express
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Front page, 19 November 2011
Daily Express
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Exterior of
Owen Williams '
Daily Express Building in Manchester.
Daily Express
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Exterior of
Daily Express Building in London, designed by Ellis and Clark.
Daily Express
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In 2000, Express Newspapers was bought by
Richard Desmond (left)
5.
List of James Bond novels and short stories
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James Bond is the fictional protagonist of a series of novels and short stories, first published in 1953. Fleming went on to write a total of twelve novels and two collections of stories, all written at his Jamaican home Goldeneye and published annually. Two of his books were published after his death in 1964, since Flemings death a number of other authors have written continuation works. Some of these have been novelizations of episodes in the series of Bond films, produced by Eon Productions, while others were either continuation novels or short stories. The first author was Kingsley Amis, writing under the pseudonym of Robert Markham who produced one novel, then came novelist, novelist and screenwriter Christopher Wood wrote two novelizations in the late 1970s. Writer John Gardner was asked to continue the series by copyright holders Ian Fleming Publications and, after Gardner retired due to ill health, American author Raymond Benson continued the stories and wrote six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories between 1996 and 2002. There was a hiatus of six years before Sebastian Faulks was commissioned to write a further Bond novel, which was released on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of Ian Flemings birth. This was followed in 2011 by a novel by American author Jeffery Deaver, a 2013 book by William Boyd, there has also been a spin-off series of books, Young Bond, based around Bonds adventures whilst a schoolboy at Eton College. During World War II Fleming had mentioned to friends that he wanted to write a spy novel, publishers Jonathan Cape were initially reluctant to publish the book, but were persuaded by Flemings brother Peter, who had previously published material through them. On 13 April 1953 Casino Royale was released in the UK in hardcover, priced at 10s, 6d, with a cover that had been devised by Fleming himself. The first edition of 4,728 copies of Casino Royale sold out in less than a month, at the time, Fleming was the Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers, an organisation which owned The Sunday Times. Upon accepting the job, Fleming requested that he be allowed three months holiday per year, which allowed him the freedom to write. The novel centred on the exploits of James Bond, an officer in the 00 section of the Secret Intelligence Service. Bond was also known by his number,007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. Fleming took the name for his character from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, in the summer of 1958, the CBS television network commissioned Fleming to write episodes of a television show based on the James Bond character. This deal came about after the success of the 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royale as an episode of the CBS television series Climax, Fleming agreed to the deal, and began to write outlines for the series, however, CBS later dropped the idea. In January and February 1959 Fleming adapted four of the plots into short stories. After Flemings death, a collection featuring two short stories was released, Octopussy and The Living Daylights
List of James Bond novels and short stories
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Ian Fleming 's James Bond novels
List of James Bond novels and short stories
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Raymond Benson, continuation Bond author
List of James Bond novels and short stories
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Sebastian Faulks, author of
Devil May Care
List of James Bond novels and short stories
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Charlie Higson, author of the
Young Bond series
6.
List of James Bond films
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James Bond is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. Bond is a British secret agent working for MI6 who also answers by his codename,007 and he has been portrayed on film by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, in twenty-six productions. Only two films were not made by Eon Productions, Eon now holds the full adaptation rights to all of Flemings Bond novels. In 1961 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman joined forces to purchase the rights to Flemings novels. They founded the production company Eon Productions and, with backing by United Artists, began working on Dr. No. Following Dr. Nos release in 1962, Broccoli and Saltzman created the holding company Danjaq to ensure future productions in the James Bond film series, the series currently encompasses twenty-four films, with the most recent, Spectre, released in October 2015. Accounting for the effects of inflation the Bond films have amassed over $14 billion at current prices, in 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. After Ratoffs death, the rights were passed on to Charles K. Feldman, although Eon Productions and McClory joined forces to produce Thunderball, McClory still retained the rights to the story and adapted Thunderball into 1983s Never Say Never Again. The current distribution rights to both of those films are held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio which distributes Eons regular series, in 1961, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman joined forces to adapt Ian Flemings James Bond novels. Released in 1962, it starred Sean Connery, who after being cast as Bond, No with From Russia with Love in 1963 and Goldfinger the following year. Afterwards, Eon Productions joined forces with Kevin McClory to produce Thunderball, Connery was renegotiating his contract by then, and got released from it during the production of his fifth film, 1967s You Only Live Twice. Connery refused to play the role further, and his replacement was Roger Moore. Having filled his original deal, Moore started to negotiate contracts on a basis, signing to do a fourth Bond film. Follow-up Octopussy was the first distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who purchased United Artists in 1981, Timothy Dalton took over the role, starring in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill. Pre-production work for the third James Bond film starring Timothy Dalton, fulfilling his three-film contract, daltons contract had expired when the lawsuits were settled in 1992. Brosnan had two films that decade, Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997 and The World Is Not Enough in 1999. Pierce Brosnan had signed a deal for four films when he was cast in the role of James Bond and this was fulfilled with the production of Die Another Day in 2002. Afterwards Eon decided to reboot the series with a younger actor, Daniel Craig was eventually cast as Bond in Casino Royale, released in 2006
List of James Bond films
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Roald Dahl, who wrote the script for
You Only Live Twice
List of James Bond films
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Sean Connery in
Amsterdam in July 1971, filming for the seventh Bond film
Diamonds are Forever.
List of James Bond films
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Moore in 1973
List of James Bond films
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Dalton in 1987
7.
Casino Royale (Climax!)
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Casino Royale is a live 1954 television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. An episode of the anthology series Climax. The show is the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel and stars Barry Nelson, though this marks the first onscreen appearance of the secret agent, Nelsons Bond is played as an American spy with Combined Intelligence Agency and is referred to as Jimmy by several characters. Most of the largely forgotten show was located in the 1980s by film historian Jim Schoenberger, Act I Combined Intelligence agent James Bond comes under fire from an assassin, he manages to dodge the bullets and enters Casino Royale. There he meets his British contact, Clarence Leiter, who remembers Card Sense Jimmy Bond from when he played the Maharajah at Deauville. While Bond explains the rules of baccarat, Leiter explains Bonds mission, to defeat Le Chiffre at baccarat, Bond then encounters a former lover, Valerie Mathis who is Le Chiffres current girlfriend, he also meets Le Chiffre himself. Act III Le Chiffre tortures Bond in order to find out where Bond has hidden the cheque for his winnings, after a fight between Bond and Le Chiffres guards, Bond shoots and wounds Le Chiffre, saving Valerie in the process. Exhausted, Bond sits in a chair opposite Le Chiffre to talk, Mathis gets in between them and Le Chiffre grabs her from behind, threatening her with a concealed razor blade. As Le Chiffre moves towards the door with Mathis as a shield, she struggles, breaking free slightly, which ran between October 1954 and June 1958. It was adapted for the screen by Anthony Ellis and Charles Bennett, Bennett was best known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, including The 39 Steps and Sabotage. Due to the restriction of a play, the adapted version lost many of the details found in the book, although it retained its violence. Clarence Leiter was an agent for Station S, while being a combination of Felix Leiter, the name Mathis, and his association with the Deuxième Bureau, was given to the leading lady, who is named Valérie Mathis, instead of Vesper Lynd. The production went mostly unnoticed upon release, however, four years after the production of Casino Royale, CBS invited Fleming to write 32 episodes over a two-year period for a television show based on the James Bond character. Fleming agreed and began to write outlines for this series and this was the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel and was made before the formation of Eon Productions. When MGM eventually obtained the rights to the 1967 film version of Casino Royale, the Casino Royale episode was lost for decades after its 1954 broadcast until a kinescope of it was located by film historian Jim Schoenberger in 1981. It also aired on TBS as part of a Bond film marathon, however, the VHS release and TBS presentation did not include the full finale of the adaptation, which was at that point still lost. Eventually, the footage was found and included on a Spy Guise & Cara Entertainment VHS release. MGM subsequently included the version on its DVD of the 1967 Casino Royale
Casino Royale (Climax!)
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Barry Nelson as James Bond
8.
Climax!
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Climax. is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa and it was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live, and although the series was transmitted in color, the series finished at #22 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1955-1956 season and #26 for 1956-1957. In 1954, an episode of Climax, featured Ian Flemings secret agent James Bond in a television adaptation of Casino Royale. It starred Barry Nelson as American secret agent Jimmy Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre and this was the first screen adaptation of a James Bond novel, made before Eon Productions acquired the Bond film rights. Eon would later obtain the rights to Casino Royale in the late 1990s and this adaptation is available on DVD as a bonus feature on the MGM DVD release of the 1967 film adaptation of the novel. The Lou Gehrig Story was released on a DVD named Legends of Baseball, Americas Pastime by PC Treasures, the disc also features The Jackie Robinson Story. The only other episode of Climax, available on DVD is Gore Vidals adaptation of Robert Louis Stevensons The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, retitled on Climax. as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. It stars Michael Rennie, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and Lowell Gilmore, in an earlier episode of Climax. An adaptation of Raymond Chandlers The Long Goodbye, actor Tristram Coffin, playing a body, arose in shot. The event was covered in the media of the day, later becoming an urban legend that was attributed to Peter Lorre. Climax. at the Internet Movie Database Climax. at CVTA with episode list Climax. at TV. com Climax. is available for download at the Internet Archive
Climax!
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Dennis O'Keefe,
Phyllis Kirk, and
Lloyd Bridges in "Edge of Terror", 1954.
9.
James Bond Jr.
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James Bond Jr. is a fictional character described as the nephew of Ian Flemings masterspy, James Bond. The name was first used in 1967 for a novel entitled The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003½ written by the pseudonymous R. D. Mascott. The idea of Bond having a nephew was used again in 1991 in an American animated series for television, the animated series, produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation, debuted on 30 September 1991, with a total of 65 half-hour episodes produced. James Bond Jr. was voiced by Corey Burton, while attending prep school at Warfield Academy, James Bond Jr. with the help of his friends IQ, and Gordo Leiter, fight against the evil terrorist organisation SCUM, a SPECTRE-like organization. Expanding on his uncles famous line, James Bond Jrs catchphrase was Bond, like many animated series, it regularly surpasses the Bond movies in terms of fantastic gadgets, while the violence of the adult Bond series is nowhere in evidence. The show was fully sanctioned by Danjaq and United Artists, who held the rights to the James Bond property, auric Goldfinger also appears, alongside his assistant, Oddjob, from the Goldfinger film. It is revealed Goldfinger has a daughter named Goldie Finger with equally expensive tastes. Several episode titles parodied the titles of Bond films such as Live and Let’s Dance, sometimes only two or three of Jr. s friends will accompany him on an adventure, leaving the others behind at Warfield to create a B-plot. These plots normally revolve around Trevors misguided attempts to get James into trouble, — The teenage nephew of James Bond 007. He attends Warfield Academy with friends who aid him in his missions, romance is occasionally hinted at between Bond and Tracy Milbanks. Boothroyd III — The grandson of Q, he is a scientific genius, quick-witted and highly logical, he is responsible for developing and building the gadgets that help James defeat agents of S. C. U. M. He is mistakenly called Ike in the Italian edition, Tracy Milbanks — Daughter of the Academy headmaster, Bradford Milbanks, and one of Jrs closest friends. She regularly accompanies James on his missions, bossy and quick-tempered, she betrays her feelings for Jr. Gordon Gordo Leiter — The tanned, blonde. Californian Gordo is also kindly and amiable, possibly the son of 007s CIA associate Felix Leiter, he never backs down when his comrades need force to solve their problems. Phoebe Farragut — Tracys best friend and the daughter of a rich businessman and she makes no secret of her crush on James, although the feelings are never reciprocated, filling the niche filled by Miss Moneypenny in the adult Bond films. Trevor Noseworthy IV — He comes from a family, and has an inflated sense of superiority. Arrogant, egocentric and spiteful, as well as cowardly and fearful, he plans to get Bond Jr. into trouble, hoping for him to be expelled from Warfield. Bradford Milbanks — An ex-RAF officer who now presides over Warfield Academy, although serious and rigid, he is a fair and accommodating headmaster and father
James Bond Jr.
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Title card
10.
George Baker (actor)
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For the Bengali actor-cum-politician, see George Baker. George Morris Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer and he was best known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Baker was born in Varna, Bulgaria and his father was an English businessman and honorary vice consul and his mother a Red Cross nurse who moved to Bulgaria to help fight cholera. He attended Lancing College, Sussex, he appeared as an actor in repertory theatre. Bakers third wife, Louie Ramsay, who died earlier in 2011, Baker was survived by five daughters. Baker first made his name in The Dam Busters and his first starring role was in The Ship That Died of Shame with Richard Attenborough. This was followed by a string of Ealing films, and his film the 1950s swashbuckler, however, over time, Baker became better known as a television actor. He was the second of many actors to portray the role of Number Two in the series The Prisoner and he appeared in his own TV comedy series Bowler. He was also in the first episode of Some Mothers Do Ave Em, in the acclaimed 1976 drama serial, I, Claudius, Baker played the emperor Tiberius Caesar. In the late 1970s, he starred as Inspector Roderick Alleyn in four adaptations of the novels of Ngaio Marsh with New Zealand settings. From 1988 to 2000, he played Inspector Reg Wexford in numerous adaptations of mysteries by Ruth Rendell. In 1993, following the death of his wife, he married the actress Louie Ramsay. Later, when Bond, played by George Lazenby, impersonates Bray to gain access to Blofeld, Baker also played an NASA engineer in You Only Live Twice. Ian Fleming considered Baker to be the candidate to play James Bond in the films. He played a character called Jamus Bondus in an episode of 1970s farcical sitcom Up Pompeii, Bakers first theatre work was in repertory at Deal, Kent. His major stage credits include a season with the Old Vic company, in 1965 he started his own touring company, Candida Plays, based at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He was Claudius in Buzz Goodbodys celebrated, modern-dress Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1975. In 1980 Baker wrote Fatal Spring, a play for television dealing with lives of poets Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves and it won him a United Nations peace award
George Baker (actor)
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George Baker
11.
Pierce Brosnan
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Pierce Brendan Brosnan OBE is an Irish actor, film producer, and activist who after leaving comprehensive school at age 16, began training in commercial illustration. He then went on to train at the Drama Centre in London for three years, following a stage acting career he rose to popularity in the television series Remington Steele, which blended the genres of romantic comedy, drama, and detective procedural. After the conclusion of Remington Steele, Brosnan appeared in such as the Cold War spy film The Fourth Protocol. In 1994, Brosnan became the actor to portray secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series. He lent his likeness for Bond in the video games James Bond 007, Nightfire and James Bond 007, during this period, he also took the lead in other films including the epic disaster adventure film Dantes Peak and the remake of the heist film The Thomas Crown Affair. In 1996, along with Beau St. Clair, Brosnan formed Irish DreamTime, in later years, he has become known for his charitable work and environmental activism. He was married to Australian actress Cassandra Harris from 1980 until her death in 1991 and he married American journalist and author Keely Shaye Smith in 2001, and became an American citizen in 2004, holding dual citizenship in the U. S. and Ireland. He has earned two Golden Globe Award nominations, first for the television miniseries Nancy Astor and next for the comedy film The Matador. Brosnan was born in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, the child of Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath for 12 years and considers it his home town and he went to Primary School in St. Annes Primary School, Navan. Brosnans father abandoned the family when Pierce was an infant, when he was four years old, his mother moved to London to work as a nurse. From that point on, he was brought up by his grandparents, Philip. After their deaths, he lived with an aunt and then an uncle and he was educated at Elliott School, now known as Ark Putney Academy, a coeducational secondary school with academy status in South West London. According to Brosnan, Childhood was fairly solitary, I grew up in a very small town called Navan in County Meath. He left when I was an infant and I was left in the care of my mother and my grandparents. To be Catholic in the 50s, and to be Irish Catholic in the 50s, and have a marriage which was not there, a father who was not there, consequently, the mother and she took the bold steps to go away and be a nurse in England. Basically wanting a life for her and myself. My mother came home once a year, twice a year, Brosnan was brought up in a Roman Catholic family and educated in a local school run by the de la Salle Brothers while serving as an altar boy
Pierce Brosnan
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Brosnan in September 2014
Pierce Brosnan
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Brosnan at the 2002
Cannes for the press conference of
Die Another Day
Pierce Brosnan
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Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
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Brosnan (2nd from the left) with the cast of Mamma Mia! and ABBA (1st, 5th, and 6th from left and 2nd from right)
12.
Christopher Cazenove
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Christopher de Lerisson Cazenove was an English film, television and stage actor. He was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College, Durham Universitys College of the Venerable Bede, Cazenove often portrayed British aristocrats, and first made his name in the 1972 drama series, The Regiment. From 2001-03, he had a role in the British drama series Judge John Deed. On the stage, he appeared as Henry Higgins in the British and he also starred in the London West End production of The Importance of Being Earnest in 1994 alongside Susannah York. Cazenove was married to actress Angharad Rees from 1973 until their divorce in 1994 and they had two sons, Linford James, and Rhys William. From 2003 until his death, Cazenoves partner was Isabel Davis, in February 2010, Cazenove collapsed at his London home. He was taken to St Thomas Hospital in London, suffering from septicaemia and he died on 7 April 2010 from the effects of the illness at St Thomass Hospital, aged 66. The actor died peacefully surrounded by his loved ones, said a statement released by his agent, his family, Cazenoves funeral on 16 April 2010 was held at St. Pauls, Covent Garden, London
Christopher Cazenove
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Christopher Cazenove in Nottingham, August 2009
13.
Daniel Craig
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Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. He trained at the National Youth Theatre and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991 and his film debut was in the drama The Power of One. Cast as the fictional British secret agent James Bond in October 2005, his first film in the role, Casino Royale, was released internationally in November 2006. Craig achieved international fame when chosen as the actor to play the role of Ian Flemings James Bond in the official film series. Quantum of Solace followed two years later, Craigs fourth Bond film, Spectre, premiered in 2015. In 2006, he joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Craig also made a guest appearance as Bond in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, alongside Queen Elizabeth II. As of 20 February 2017, Craig is the second longest serving James Bond, Craig was born in Chester, Cheshire. Craig has distant French Huguenot ancestry, Huguenot minister Daniel Chamier is among his ancestors, as is Sir William Burnaby, 1st Baronet. Craigs middle name, Wroughton, comes from his great-great-grandmother, Grace Matilda Wroughton, raised on the Wirral Peninsula, Craig attended primary school in Frodsham and Hoylake, Merseyside. Later, he attended Hilbre High School in West Kirby, Merseyside, along with his older sister Lea, when his parents divorced, Craig and his sister lived with their mother, moving to Liverpool, Merseyside. Upon finishing his secondary school education at the age of 16. He played rugby union for Hoylake RFC, Craig began acting in school plays at the age of six, and was introduced to serious acting by attending the Everyman Theatre in nearby Liverpool City Centre with his mother. At the age of 16, Craig was accepted into the National Youth Theatre, leaving school and moving to London, in Craigs first screen role, he played an Afrikaner in The Power of One in 1992. He then appeared as Joe in the Royal National Theatres production of Tony Kushners Angels in America in November 1993, also in 1993, Craig was featured in an episode of Yorkshire Televisions Heartbeat, which aired 31 October 1993. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended an invitation to Craig in 2006. In 2005, Craig was contacted by Eon Productions to portray James Bond and he stated he was aware of the challenges of the Bond franchise which he considered a big machine that makes a lot of money. He aimed at bringing more depth to the character. Born in 1968, Craig is the first actor to portray James Bond to have been born after the Bond series started, and after the death of Ian Fleming, significant controversy followed the decision, as it was doubted if the producers had made the right choice
Daniel Craig
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Craig at the Berlin premiere of
Spectre in 2015
Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
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Craig at the Quantum of Solace film premiere in New York in November 2008
Daniel Craig
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Craig at the Paris premiere of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in January 2012
14.
Sean Connery
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Sir Thomas Sean Connery is a retired Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes. He was knighted by Elizabeth II in July 2000 after receiving Kennedy Center Honors in the US in 1999, Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables, Connery has been polled as The Greatest Living Scot and Scotlands Greatest Living National Treasure. In 1989, he was proclaimed Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine, Thomas Sean Connery, named Thomas after his grandfather, was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland on 25 August 1930. His mother, Euphemia McBain Effie, was a cleaning woman and his paternal grandfathers parents emigrated to Scotland from Ireland in the mid-19th century. The remainder of his family was of Scottish descent, and his maternal great-grandparents were native Scottish Gaelic speakers from Fife and his father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. He has a brother, Neil. He was generally referred to in his youth as Tommy, although he was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of 6 ft 2 in at 18. He was known during his teen years as Big Tam, and has stated that he lost his virginity to a woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14. Connerys first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthberts Co-operative Society, one tattoo is a tribute to his parents and reads Mum and Dad, and the other is self-explanatory, Scotland Forever. Connery was later discharged from the navy on medical grounds because of a duodenal ulcer, Scotland, Archie Brennan, a coffin polisher. The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour, student artist Richard Demarco who painted several notable early pictures of Connery described him as very straight, slightly shy, too, too beautiful for words, a virtual Adonis. Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, Connery was a keen footballer, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose in his younger days. He was offered a trial with East Fife, while on tour with South Pacific, Connery played in a football match against a local team that Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby was impressed with his physical prowess, Connery admits that he was tempted to accept, but he recalls, I realised that a top-class footballer could be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my more intelligent moves, looking to pick up some extra money, Connery helped out backstage at the Kings Theatre in late 1951. He became interested in the proceedings, and a career was launched, the production returned the following year out of popular demand, and Connery was promoted to the featured role of Lieutenant Buzz Adams, which Larry Hagman had portrayed in the West End. While in Edinburgh, Connery was targeted by the notorious Valdor gang, there Connery launched an attack single-handedly against the gang members, grabbing one by the throat and another by a biceps and cracked their heads together
Sean Connery
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Connery at the 2008
Edinburgh International Film Festival
Sean Connery
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An Edinburgh "Co-op milk cart" photographed in 1981
Sean Connery
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Connery at the
1988 Academy Awards
Sean Connery
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Connery's former wife,
Diane Cilento
15.
Timothy Dalton
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Timothy Peter Dalton is an English actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, as well as Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre, before his fourth birthday, the family moved back to England to Belper in Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School, as a teenager, he was a member of the Air Training Corps at LXX Squadron. He decided to become an actor at 16 after seeing a production of Macbeth and he left school in 1964 to enrol in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Dalton quickly moved to television, working mainly with the BBC and this was the first of several period dramas, which included a remake of Wuthering Heights in 1970 in which he portrayed Heathcliff. After a few films, Dalton took a break in 1971 to concentrate on the theatre, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1975, Dalton and Vivien Merchant headed the cast of a revival of Noël Cowards The Vortex, with two exceptions, the films Mary, Queen of Scots and Permission to Kill, he remained a theatre actor until 1978. That year he starred in Sextette as the husband of 85-year-old Mae West, hailing his return to cinema, while in the United States, Dalton worked mainly in television, although he starred in several films. During this time, he played Prince Barin in the fiction film Flash Gordon. Dalton starred alongside Jonathan Pryce in the film The Doctor and the Devils, Dalton co-starred with Joan Collins in the miniseries, Sins. He was also replaced in two films in which hed been signed to appear and he was offered the role of real-life British Prime Minister William Lamb in the film Lady Caroline Lamb. The filmmakers replaced him with Jon Finch at the last moment, Dalton sued for breach of contract, in 1985, Dalton was set to play Don Alfonso de la Torré in Roman Polanskis film Pirates. The two men did not get along, so Polanski replaced Dalton with Damien Thomas, Dalton had been considered for the role of James Bond several times. Dalton told the producers that he was too young for the role, in a 1987 interview, Dalton said, Originally I did not want to take over from Sean Connery. He was far too good, he was wonderful, I was about 24 or 25, which is too young. But when youve seen Bond from the beginning, you dont take over from Sean Connery. In either 1979 or 1980, he was approached again, but did not favour the direction the films were taking, as he explained, his idea of Bond was different
Timothy Dalton
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Dalton in 1987
16.
Bob Holness
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Robert Wentworth John Bob Holness was an English radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He is best remembered as the presenter of the British version of Blockbusters, Holness was born in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa. When he was seven, his family moved to the UK, initially to Herne Bay, Kent where his grandfather Nathaniel was brought up, then later to Ashford, after attending Ashford Grammar School and briefly Eastbourne College he went on to Maidstone College of Art. He then worked for a company before returning to South Africa. In 1955, he received his first job as a radio presenter and he married Mary Rose Clifford in 1955, whom he met in South Africa. The couple returned to the UK in 1961 and his daughter, Ros, was a member of the band Toto Coelo. In 1956 he became the very first actor to portray James Bond in a production of Moonraker. From 1971, the show was broadcast solely on Radio 2, between 1975 and 1985, he was co-presenter with Douglas Cameron of the award-winning breakfast-time AM Programme on Londons LBC radio station. He originally joined the station as a traffic reporter, later progressing to reading networked news bulletins for IRN. He won the Variety Club Award for Joint Independent Radio Personality of the Year in both 1979 and 1984, from the late 1960s until 1998, he also presented the request programme Anything Goes on the BBC World Service. Tommy Boyd, among others, has disputed Maconies claim to authorship of the rumour, in 1988 he starred in a celebrity special of Catchphrase. In 1995, he hosted Yorkshire Televisions big-budget game show flop Raise the Roof before becoming the chairman of a revived Call My Bluff for the BBC. Holness appeared on one episode of Ant and Decs Saturday Night Takeaway in 2004 and he also had an occasional acting career in television shows including, Thriller, Rex the Runt and The Impressionable Jon Culshaw. On 24 November 2002, he suffered a stroke, following which a brain scan revealed he had previously suffered a number of transient ischaemic attacks over several years. He also suffered hearing loss, and began to use a hearing aid in 2003. He was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2005, in the last few years of his life he suffered from vascular dementia. He was cared for by his family at home until the last two weeks of his life when he entered Denville House nursing home and his family announced on 6 January 2012 that he had died earlier that day, in his sleep, aged 83. He is survived by his wife, former actress Mary Rose, list of people diagnosed with coeliac disease Bob Holness at the Internet Movie Database Profile at Radiorewind. co. uk
Bob Holness
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Holness in 1989
17.
George Lazenby
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Lazenby is also the only Bond actor to receive Golden Globe recognition for his performance, earning a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. Prior to appearing as Bond, Lazenby was a model and appeared in advertising, after declining to do another Bond film Lazenbys career stalled in that decade and he moved into business and invested in real estate. He later appeared in films and television series, including roles spoofing the James Bond character. Lazenby has been married twice, first to Christina Gannett and then from 2002 to 2008 to tennis player Pam Shriver. Lazenby was born in 1939 in Goulburn, New South Wales, at Ovada Private Hospital, to railway worker George Edward Lazenby and Sheila Joan Lazenby and he went to Goulburn Public School in his primary years, and Goulburn High until either 1953 or 1954. His sister, Barbara, was an accomplished dancer, when he was young he spent 18 months in hospital after having an operation which left him with only half a kidney. When Lazenby was about 14 he moved with his family from Goulburn to Queanbeyan and he worked as a car salesman and mechanic, before serving in the Australian Army. Lazenby moved to London in 1963 to pursue a woman hed fallen in love with and he became a used car salesman in Finchley, then sold new cars in Park Lane. He was spotted by a talent scout who persuaded him to become a model and he was best known for an advertisement for Big Fry Chocolate. In 1966 he was voted Top Model of the Year, in 1968, after Sean Connery quit the role of James Bond, producer Albert R. Broccoli first met Lazenby when they were getting their hair cut at the same barber. He later saw him in the Big Fry commercial and felt he could be a possible Bond, calling him in for a screen test. Lazenby dressed for the part by sporting several sartorial Bond elements such as a Rolex Submariner wristwatch and a Savile Row suit, which had been ordered, but not collected, by Connery. The position was consolidated when Lazenby accidentally punched a professional wrestler, director Peter R. Hunt later claimed, We wanted someone who oozed sexual assurance, and we think this fellow has that. Just wait til the women see him on screen, I am not saying he is an actor. There is a deal of difference between an actor and a film star. Didnt they find Gary Cooper when he was an electrician, in July 1969 Lazenby returned home to Queanbeyan to see his parents. He said he had 18 films to consider, but its all commercial rubbish, such as the guy getting the girl at the end of the Battle of Britain, he said. Ill just have to wait and see, at this stage Lazenby said he intended to make the next Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun
George Lazenby
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Lazenby at the November 2008
Big Apple Con in
Manhattan
George Lazenby
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Volkswagen brochure used by George Lazenby as a car salesman. Was found in captains flat (near Queanbeyan and Canberra)
George Lazenby
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Volkswagen brochure used by George Lazenby as a car salesman
George Lazenby
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Lazenby in 2014
18.
Roger Moore
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Sir Roger George Moore KBE is an English actor. He is best known for playing the British secret agent James Bond in seven films between 1973 and 1985 and Simon Templar in The Saint between 1962 and 1969. Roger Moore was born on 14 October 1927 in Stockwell, London and he is the only child of Lillian Lily, a housewife, and George Alfred Moore, a policeman. His mother was born in Calcutta, India, of English origin and he attended Battersea Grammar School, but was evacuated to Holsworthy, Devon, during World War II. He was then educated at Dr Challoners Grammar School in Amersham and he then attended the College of the Venerable Bede at the University of Durham, but did not graduate. At 18, shortly after the end of World War II, on 21 September 1946, he was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps as a second lieutenant. He was given the service number 372394 and he eventually became a captain, commanding a small depot in West Germany. He later looked after entertainers for the forces passing through Hamburg. At RADA, Moore was a classmate of his future Bond costar Lois Maxwell, Moore chose to leave RADA after six months in order to seek paid employment as an actor. His film idol was Stewart Granger, at the age of 17, Moore appeared as an extra in the film Caesar and Cleopatra, meeting his idol on the set. Later Moore and Granger were both in The Wild Geese, though they had no scenes together, other actors in that show included Clive Morton and Betty Ann Davies. Although Moore signed a contract with MGM in 1954, the films that followed were not successes and, in his own words. He appeared in Interrupted Melody—billed third under Glenn Ford and Eleanor Parker—a biographical movie about an opera singers recovery from polio and that same year, he played a supporting role in The Kings Thief starring Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven and George Sanders. In the 1956 film Diane, Moore was billed again, this time under Lana Turner and Pedro Armendariz in a 16th-century period piece set in France with Moore playing Prince Henri. Moore was released from his MGM contract after two years following the critical and commercial failure of Diane. After that, he spent a few years mainly doing one-shot parts in television series and he signed another long-term contract to a studio, this time to Warner Bros. His starring role in The Miracle, a version of the play Das Mirakel for Warner Bros. showcasing Carroll Baker as a nun, had turned down by Dirk Bogarde. Eventually, Moore made his name in television, shot mainly in England at Elstree Studios and Buckinghamshire, some of the show was also filmed in California due to a partnership with Columbia Studios Screen Gems
Roger Moore
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Moore at the signing of his book, "Last Man Standing", September 2014
Roger Moore
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Moore as
Maverick, 1960
Roger Moore
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With Earl Green in The Saint
Roger Moore
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Moore in 1973
19.
Barry Nelson
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Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Flemings secret agent James Bond. He began acting in school at the age of fifteen, as an MGM contract player, Nelson made his screen debut in the role as Paul Clark in Shadow of the Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, with Donna Reed. He followed that with his role as Lew Rankin in the film noir crime/drama Johnny Eager starring Robert Taylor and he played the lead in an MGM second feature war film A Yank on the Burma Road. During his service in the United States Army in World War II, Nelson debuted on the Broadway stage in one of the roles, Bobby Grills. His next Broadway appearance was as Peter Sloan in Harts Light Up the Sky and he went on to appear on Broadway with Barbara Bel Geddes in the original Broadway production of The Moon is Blue, he was the last surviving original cast member of the production. During the plays run he also starred in a CBS half-hour drama called The Hunter and he played Bart Adams, a wealthy young American whose business activities involved him in a series of adventures. He also appeared opposite Lauren Bacall in the Abe Burrows comedy Cactus Flower in 1965 and he was the first actor to play James Bond on screen, in a 1954 adaptation of Ian Flemings novel Casino Royale on the television anthology series Climax. Reportedly this was considered a pilot for a possible James Bond television series, Nelson played James Bond as an American agent whom some in the program call Jimmy. In 2004, Nelson said, At that time, no one had heard of James Bond. I was scratching my head wondering how to play it, I hadnt read the book or anything like that because it wasnt well-known. Bond did not become known in the U. S. until President John F. Kennedy listed From Russia. The program also featured Peter Lorre as the villain, Le Chiffre. Originally broadcast live, the production was believed lost until a kinescope emerged in the 1980s and it was subsequently released to home video, and is currently available on DVD as a bonus feature with the 1967 film adaptation of the novel. Nelson played the lead in a 20-episode Western television series set in Canada and entitled Hudsons Bay, Nelson appeared as Grant Decker in Threat of Evil, a 1960 episode of CBSs anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. His additional television credits include guest appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Ben Casey, The Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare and he appeared regularly on television in the 1960s, having been one of the Whats My Line. Mystery guests and later serving as a guest panelist on that popular CBS quiz show, Nelson appeared in both the stage and screen versions of Mary, Mary. In 1978, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Dan Connors in the Broadway musical The Act with Liza Minnelli and his final appearance on Broadway was as Julian Marsh in 42nd Street. William Goldman, in his 1968 book The Season, called Nelson a consummately professional actor and he was a very naturalistic, believable actor, said his agent, Francis Delduca
Barry Nelson
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Nelson in 1962
20.
David Niven
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James David Graham Niven was an English actor and novelist. His many roles included Squadron Leader Peter Carter in A Matter of Life and Death, Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Separate Tables. Born in London, Niven attended Heatherdown Preparatory School and Stowe before gaining a place at the Royal Military College, after Sandhurst, he joined the British Army and was gazetted a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. Having developed an interest in acting, he left the Highland Light Infantry, travelled to Hollywood and he first appeared as an extra in the British film There Goes the Bride. From there, he hired an agent and had small parts in films from 1933 to 1935. This brought him to attention within the film industry and he was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Niven returned to Britain and rejoined the army, Niven resumed his acting career after his demobilisation, and was voted the second-most popular British actor in the 1945 Popularity Poll of British film stars. He appeared in A Matter of Life and Death, The Bishops Wife, Niven appeared in nearly a hundred films, and many shows for television. He also began writing books, with commercial success. In 1982 he appeared in Blake Edwards final Pink Panther films Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther, James David Graham Niven was born in Belgrave Mansions, London, to William Edward Graham Niven and his wife, Henrietta Julia Niven. He was named David for his birth on St. Davids Day, Niven often claimed that he was born in Kirriemuir, in the Scottish county of Angus in 1909, but his birth certificate shows this was not the case. Henrietta was of French and British ancestry and she was born in Wales, the daughter of army officer William Degacher by his marriage to Julia Caroline Smith, the daughter of Lieutenant General James Webber Smith. Nivens grandfather William Degacher was killed in the Battle of Isandlwana, born William Hitchcock, he and his brother Henry had followed the lead of their father, Walter Henry Hitchcock, in assuming their mothers maiden name of Degacher in 1874. William Niven, Davids father, was of Scottish descent, his grandfather, David Graham Niven, was from St. Martins. William served in the Berkshire Yeomanry in the First World War and was killed during the Gallipoli Campaign on 21 August 1915 and he was buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Turkey, in the Special Memorial Section in Plot F.10. Nivens mother remarried, to Sir Thomas Comyn-Platt, in London in 1917, David Niven had three older siblings, Margaret Joyce Henry Degacher Grizel Rosemary Graham. English private schools at the time of Nivens boyhood were noted for their strict, Niven suffered many instances of corporal punishment owing to his inclination for pranks, which finally led to his expulsion from Heatherdown Preparatory School at the age of 10½. This ended his chances for Eton College, a significant blow to his family, thoughtful and kind, he addressed the boys by their first names, allowed them bicycles, and encouraged and nurtured their personal interests
David Niven
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David Niven in 1973
David Niven
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Stowe School
David Niven
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Niven in the 1948 film
Enchantment
David Niven
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From the trailer for
The Toast of New Orleans (1950)
21.
Toby Stephens
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Toby Stephens is an English stage, television, and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. Stephens, the son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens, was born in London. He was educated at Aldro and Seaford College and he trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Stephens began his career with the role of Othello in 1992s Orlando. He has since made appearances on television and on stage. He played the role in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus shortly after graduation from LAMDA. He also played Stanley Kowalski in a West End production of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire and he has appeared on Broadway in Ring Round the Moon. He played the lead in the film Photographing Fairies and played Orsino in Trevor Nunns 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeares Twelfth Night, in 2002 he took on the role for which he is most widely known, that of Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day. Aged 33 at the time of release, he remains the youngest actor to have played a Bond villain. In 2005 he played the role of a British Army captain in the Indian film, The Rising, Ballad of Mangal Pandey, the following year he returned to India to play a renegade British East India Company officer in Sharpes Challenge. During mid-2007, Stephens played the role of Jerry in a revival of Harold Pinters Betrayal under the direction of Roger Michell, later that year, Stephens also starred as Horner in Jonathan Kents revival of William Wycherleys The Country Wife. Various members of the company are expected to star in upcoming productions at the Haymarket Theatre with various artistic directors, the formation of the company is considered by many London theatre critics to be a bold move for West End theatre. In February 2008, the Fox Broadcasting Company gave the go-ahead to cast Stephens as the lead in a one hour, prime time US television show, Inseparable. Billed as a modern Jekyll and Hyde story, the show was to feature a partially paralysed forensic psychologist whose other personality is a charming criminal, Stephens casting was highly unusual, because Fox had not yet approved a script nor purchased a pilot for the show. However, in mid-May 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that y the time the network picked up the pilot. In May 2008, Stephens performed the role of James Bond in a BBC Radio 4 production of Ian Flemings Dr. No, as part of the centenary celebration of Flemings birth. The production was reportedly the first BBC radio dramatisation of the novel though Moonraker was on South African radio in 1956, also in May 2008, Stock-pot Productions announced that Stephens will have the lead role in a feature-length film entitled Fly Me, co-starring Tim McInnerny. Stock-pot was also the producer of One Day, a short 2006 film shown at film festivals
Toby Stephens
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Seaford College
22.
Secret Intelligence Service
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The Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, is the foreign intelligence agency of the British government. The SIS Chief is held accountable to the Foreign Secretary, SIS is bound by the Intelligence Services Act 1994. The name MI6 was used as a flag of convenience during the First World War when it was known by many names, the existence of the SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994. It forms a part of the UKs intelligence machinery alongside GCHQ, MI5, in late 2010, the head of SIS delivered what he said was the first public address by a serving chief of the agency in its then 101-year history. The remarks of Sir John Sawers primarily focused on the relationship between the need for secrecy and the goal of maintaining security within the UK and his remarks acknowledged the tensions caused by secrecy in an era of leaks and pressure for ever-greater disclosure. Since 1995, the SIS headquarters have been at Vauxhall Cross on the South Bank of the River Thames, the service derived from the Secret Service Bureau, which was founded in 1909. The bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign espionage and internal counter-espionage activities and this specialisation was because the Admiralty wanted to know the maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy. This specialisation was formalised before 1914 and its first director was Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who often dropped the Smith in routine communication. He typically signed correspondence with his initial C in green ink and this usage evolved as a code name, and has been adhered to by all subsequent directors of SIS when signing documents to retain anonymity. The services performance during the First World War was mixed, because it was unable to establish a network in Germany itself, most of its results came from military and commercial intelligence collected through networks in neutral countries, occupied territories, and Russia. After the war, resources were reduced but during the 1920s. In August 1919, Cumming created the new passport control department, the post of Passport Control Officer provided operatives with diplomatic immunity. Circulating Sections established intelligence requirements and passed the intelligence back to its consumer departments, mainly the War Office, the debate over the future structure of British Intelligence continued at length after the end of hostilities but Cumming managed to engineer the return of the Service to Foreign Office control. In the immediate post-war years under Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming and throughout most of the 1920s, SIS was focused on Communism, in particular, Russian Bolshevism. Smith-Cumming died suddenly at his home on 14 June 1923, shortly before he was due to retire, an economic intelligence section, Section VII, to deal with trade, industrial and contraband. A clandestine radio communications organisation, Section VIII, to communicate with operatives, Section N to exploit the contents of foreign diplomatic bags Section D to conduct political covert actions and paramilitary operations in time of war. Section D would organise the Home Defence Scheme resistance organisation in the UK, with the emergence of Germany as a threat following the ascendence of the Nazis, in the early 1930s attention was shifted in that direction. Sinclair died in 1939, after an illness, and was replaced as C by Lt Col. Stewart Menzies, the extensive double-cross system run by MI5 to feed misleading intelligence to the Germans Imagery intelligence activities conducted by the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit
Secret Intelligence Service
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A young Englishman, member of the Secret Intelligence Service, in
Yatung (bo), photographed by
Ernst Schäfer in 1939
Secret Intelligence Service
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Operation Gold: the Berlin tunnel in 1956
Secret Intelligence Service
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The SIS building at
Vauxhall Cross, London, seen from
Vauxhall Bridge
23.
Kingsley Amis
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Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, according to his biographer, Zachary Leader, Amis was the finest English comic novelist of the second half of the twentieth century. He is the father of British novelist Martin Amis, in 2008, The Times ranked Kingsley Amis thirteenth on their list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Kingsley Amis was born in Clapham, south London, the son of William Robert Amis and he was raised in Norbury – in his later estimation not really a place, its an expression on a map really I should say I came from Norbury station. He was educated at the City of London School on a scholarship, after his first year, and in April 1941 was admitted to St. Johns College, Oxford, also on a scholarship, where he read English. It was there that he met Philip Larkin, with whom he formed the most important friendship of his life, while at Oxford, in June 1941, Amis joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. After only a year, in July 1942, he was called up for national service, after serving in the Royal Corps of Signals in the Second World War, Amis returned to Oxford in October 1945 to complete his degree. Although he worked hard and earned in 1947 a first in English, in 1946 he met Hilary Bardwell, they married in 1948 after she became pregnant with their first child, Philip. Amis initially arranged for her to have an abortion, but changed his mind. He became a lecturer in English at the University of Wales, Two other children followed, Martin in August 1949 and Sally in January 1954. Days after Sallys birth, Amiss first novel Lucky Jim was published to acclaim, critics saw it as having caught the flavour of Britain in the 1950s. The novel won the Somerset Maugham Award for fiction and Amis was associated with the writers labelled the Angry Young Men. Lucky Jim was one of the first British campus novels, setting a precedent for later generations of such as Malcolm Bradbury, David Lodge, Tom Sharpe. As a poet, Amis was associated with The Movement, on returning to Britain, he fell into a rut, and he began looking for another post, after thirteen years at Swansea, Amis became a fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge. He regretted the move within a year, finding Cambridge an academic and social disappointment and resigned in 1963, intent on moving to Majorca, in 1963, Hilary discovered Amiss love affair with novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard. Hilary and Amis separated in August, and he went to live with Howard and he divorced Hilary in 1965 and married Howard the same year. In 1968 he moved with Howard to Lemmons, a house in Barnet and she and Amis divorced in 1983. In his last years, Amis shared a house with his first wife Hilary and her husband, Alastair Boyd
Kingsley Amis
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Sir Kingsley Amis
CBE
Kingsley Amis
–
Novels
24.
John Gardner (British writer)
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Gardner, an ex-Royal Marine commando, worked for a period as an Anglican priest, but he lost his faith and left the church after a short time. After a battle with alcohol addiction he wrote his first book, Gardner went on to write over fifty works of fiction, including fourteen original James Bond novels, and the novel versions of two Bond films. He died from suspected heart failure on 3 August 2007, John Edmund Gardner was born on 20 November 1926 in Seaton Delaval, a small village in Northumberland. His parents were Cyril Gardner, a London-born Anglican priest who had been ordained in Wallsend in 1921, and Lena Henderson, a local girl, during the Second World War he joined the Home Guard, despite being only 13 at the time. Gardner subsequently served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, before transferring to the Royal Marines 42 Commando for service in the Middle, Gardner considered himself the worst commando in the world and, despite being a small-arms expert. Also knew a lot about explosives, he admitted that I bent an aeroplane I was learning to fly, after the war he went up to St Johns College, Cambridge, to study theology and was subsequently ordained as an Anglican priest in 1953. He realised that he had lost his faith and made an error in his career, he admitted that during one sermon. He was released from the church in 1958 and took up a position as a critic with the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald. It was whilst at the Herald—aged 33—that Gardner realised he was an alcoholic and he overcame his addiction and produced his first book as part of his therapy, the autobiographical Spin the Bottle, published in 1964. Critic and scholar John Sutherland says that of all the books Gardner published, the book appeared at the height of the fictional spy mania and, as a send-up of the whole business, was an immediate success. Upon reviewing the novel in The New York Times, Anthony Boucher wrote, the book was made into a film of the same name by MGM and another seven light-hearted novels and two short stories about the cowardly Oakes appeared over the next eleven years. In the mid-1970s Gardner also wrote the first of three using the character of Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes series, the last of which was published posthumously. The third of series, titled simply Moriarty, was delayed due to a dispute with the publisher. Erik Lee Preminger bought the rights to the first of the trilogy - The Return of Moriarty -. Edgar Bronfman Jr. for Sagittarius Entertainment and Nat Cohen, for EMI Productions were to produce, donald Sutherland was to portray Moriarty. Funding however fell through shortly before filming was to begin, in 1979 Glidrose Publications approached Gardner and asked him to revive Ian Flemings James Bond series of novels. Between 1981 and 1996, Gardner wrote fourteen James Bond novels, Gardner stated that he wanted to bring Mr Bond into the 1980s, although he retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them. Even though Gardner kept the ages the same, he made Bond grey at the temples as a nod to the passing of the years
John Gardner (British writer)
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John Gardner, circa 1984
25.
Raymond Benson
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Raymond Benson is an American author best known for being the official author of the James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973, in primary school Benson took an interest in the piano which would later in his life develop into an interest in composing music. Other hobbies include film history and criticism, writing, and designing computer games, in 1984, Benson wrote The James Bond Bedside Companion, a book dedicated to Ian Fleming, the official novels, and the films. The book was updated in 1988 and has since been re-released digitally without further updating and it was nominated for an Edgar Award by Mystery Writers of America in the Best Biographical/Critical Work category. In 1985, he worked as a designer and writer on the computer game James Bond 007 and he followed this in 1986 with work on a computer game version of Goldfinger and co-authoring the You Only Live Twice II module of the popular role-playing game James Bond 007. In 1996, John Gardner resigned from writing Bond books, glidrose Publications promptly chose Benson to replace him. As a James Bond novelist, Raymond Benson was initially controversial for being American, the author did much to placate these concerns, however, and promptly embarked on regular tours to promote his novels in the UK, as well as occasional trips to mainland Europe. Several signing sessions were held at the offices of his UK publisher Hodder & Stoughton, in total, Benson wrote six James Bond novels, three novelizations, and three short stories. He was the first Bond author since Ian Fleming to write short stories, glidrose changed its name to Ian Fleming Publications commencing with Bensons novel, High Time to Kill. Benson resigned from writing Bond books in 2003, in 2008 High Time to Kill, Doubleshot, Never Dream of Dying and his 1997 short story Blast from the Past were grouped and released as an omnibus called The Union Trilogy, Three 007 Novels. In 2004, Benson began writing the first of two based on the acclaimed video game series, Splinter Cell, although both are credited to the pseudonym, David Michaels. Further titles in the Splinter Cell series have also credited to David Michaels. The first book, Tom Clancys Splinter Cell was published in 2004 followed by Tom Clancys Splinter Cell, in 2008 Benson wrote A Hard Days Death about a private investigator who looks into the death of a rock star. The book spawned a novel in 2009 called Dark Side of the Morgue. The two novels plus a short story, On the Threshold of a Death, were collected in 2011 as an e-book anthology, The Rock n Roll Detectives Greatest Hits. Benson also wrote the novelization of the video game Metal Gear Solid in 2008 and followed it in 2009 with a novelization of Metal Gear Solid 2, Sons of Liberty. His entry in the Gabriel Hunt pulp adventure series, Hunt Through Napoleons Web, further video game novelizations continued in 2011, when Benson co-authored Homefront--the Voice of Freedom with John Milius, as a prequel to the THQ videogame Homefront. 2012 saw the announcement that Benson would also write Hitman, Damnation, Bensons first novel in a series of womens action/adventure thrillers, The Black Stiletto, was published in September 2011
Raymond Benson
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Benson at MI WINE BOND PARTY in Milan, December 14, 2005
26.
Sebastian Faulks
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Sebastian Charles Faulks CBE is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his novels set in France – The Girl at the Lion dOr, Birdsong. He has also published novels with a setting, most recently A Week in December. Wodehouses Jeeves series, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells and he is a team captain on BBC Radio 4 literary quiz The Write Stuff. Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 in Donnington, Berkshire to Peter Faulks and his father was a decorated soldier, who later became a solicitor and judge. His brother Edward Faulks, Baron Faulks QC, a barrister and he was educated at Elstree School, Reading and went on to Wellington College, Berkshire. He read English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which he was made an Honorary Fellow in 2007, whilst at Cambridge he participated in University Challenge, in which Emmanuel College lost in the opening round. Faulks commented that his team were most probably hampered by a trip to the pub before the show, after graduating, Faulks lived in France for a year. When he returned to England he worked as a teacher at a school in Camden Town. Faulks first novel, A Trick of the Light, was published in 1984 and he continued to work as a journalist, becoming the first literary editor of The Independent in 1986. He became deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday in 1989, in the year he published The Girl at the Lion dOr. In 1991 he left The Independent, and wrote for other papers. Following the success of Birdsong, Faulks quit journalism to write full-time and he has since published eight novels, the most recent being A Week in December and A Possible Life. Faulks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1993, Faulks appears regularly on British TV and radio. He has been a team captain on BBC Radio 4s literary quiz The Write Stuff since 1998. Faulks can catch, and caricature, another writers fingerprints and foibles with a precision that only a deep love of writing can teach. In 2011 Faulks presented a four-part BBC Two series called Faulks on Fiction, looking at the British novel and he also wrote a series tie-in book of the same name. They have two sons, William and Arthur, born 1990 and 1996 respectively, and one daughter, Holly, Faulks is a fan of West Ham United football club
Sebastian Faulks
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Faulks in 2008
27.
Jeffery Deaver
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Jeffery Deaver is an American mystery/crime writer. He has a bachelor of degree from the University of Missouri. He later practiced law before embarking on a career as a best-selling novelist. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including The New York Times, The Times, Italys Corriere della Sera, The Sydney Morning Herald, Deaver was born outside Chicago in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and grew up in a creative family. His mother was an artist, and his father an advertising writer and his sister Julie Reece Deaver is an author of young adult novels. Deaver was a journalist, folksinger, and attorney and he lives alone and does a great deal of cooking in all cuisines. The book that inspired him to write was From Russia With Love, Deavers most popular series features his regular character Lincoln Rhyme, a quadriplegic detective, and NYPD Detective Amelia Sachs. Deaver stated in a 2006 Early Show interview that he would rotate between his new series and Lincoln Rhyme each year, virtually all of his works feature a trick ending or multiple trick endings. Deavers 2001 book The Blue Nowhere features criminal hackers, as well as a law enforcement computer crime unit. In this book, Deaver gives credit to Lee de Forest, the inventor of the Audion and it is now also available in print. Deaver was chosen to write an official new James Bond novel and he is the second American author to write Bond novels, after Raymond Benson. Lucas Davenport in “Rhymes With Prey, ” by Jeffery Deaver and John Sandford Jeffery Deavers Official Web Site Modern Signed Books BlogTalkRadio Interview with Rodger Nichols about Steel Kiss
Jeffery Deaver
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Jeffery Deaver
28.
William Boyd (writer)
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William Boyd, CBE is a Scottish novelist and screenwriter. Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana to Scottish parents, both from Fife, and has two younger sisters. A. in English & Philosophy, and finally Jesus College, Oxford and his father died of a rare disease when Boyd was 26. Between 1980 and 1983 he was a lecturer in English at St Hildas College, Oxford and he was also the New Statesmans television critic between 1981 and 1983. Boyd is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary Doctorates in Literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow and Dundee and is a fellow of Jesus College. He met his wife Susan, an editor and now a screenwriter. He has a house in Chelsea, London and a farmhouse and he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to literature. In August 2014 Boyd was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to Septembers referendum on that issue, Boyd is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club. Although his novels have been short-listed for major prizes, he has never had the same publicity as his contemporaries, Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 Best of Young British Novelists in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. Boyd published Waiting for Sunrise, A Novel in early 2012, following Solo in 2013 he published Sweet Caress in 2015, his fourth novel written from a womans viewpoint. On 11 April 2012 it was announced that Boyd was to write the next James Bond novel, the book, Solo, is set in 1969, it was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in September 2013. Boyd used Bond creator Ian Fleming as a character in his novel Any Human Heart, Fleming recruits the books protagonist, Logan Mountstuart, to naval intelligence during World War Two. Boyd has also worked with three of the actors who have portrayed Bond in the series, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan. As a screenwriter Boyd has written a number of feature film and he was one of a number of writers who worked on Chaplin. It caused quite a stir once the truth was revealed, the name Nat Tate is derived from the names of the two leading British art galleries, the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery. Boyd, who paints, made a drawing artwork under the pseudonym of Nat Tate. Nat Tate also appears in Any Human Heart, also by Boyd, Boyd adapted two Anton Chekhov short stories—A Visit to Friends and My Life —to create the play Longing. The play, directed by Nina Raine, stars Jonathan Bailey, Tamsin Greig, Natasha Little, Eve Ponsonby, John Sessions, previews began 28 February 2013, press night was 7 March 2013
William Boyd (writer)
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Boyd in 2009
29.
Anthony Horowitz
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Anthony Horowitz, OBE is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His work for young adult readers includes The Diamond Brothers series, the Alex Rider series and his work for adults includes the novel and play Mindgame, and two Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty. He is the most recent author chosen to write a James Bond novel by the Ian Fleming estate and he has also written for television, contributing scripts to ITVs Agatha Christies Poirot and Midsomer Murders. He was the creator and writer of the ITV series Foyles War, Collision, Horowitz was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, into a wealthy Jewish family, and in his early years lived an upper-middle class lifestyle. As an overweight and unhappy child, Horowitz enjoyed reading books from his fathers library, at the age of 8, Horowitz was sent to Orley Farm, a boarding preparatory school in Harrow, Middlesex. There, he entertained his peers by telling them the stories he had read, Horowitz described his time in the school as a brutal experience, recalling that he was often beaten by the headmaster. At age 13 he went on to Rugby School, a school in Rugby, Warwickshire. Horowitzs mother introduced him to Frankenstein and Dracula and she also gave him a human skull for his 13th birthday. Horowitz said in an interview that it him to get to the end of each story since he will soon look like the skull. From the age of 8, Horowitz knew he wanted to be a writer and he graduated from the University of York with a lower second class degree in English literature and art history in 1977, where he was in Vanbrugh College. In at least one interview, Horowitz claims to believe that H. P. Lovecraft based his fictional Necronomicon on a real text, Horowitzs father was associated with some of the politicians in the circle of prime minister Harold Wilson, including Eric Miller. Facing bankruptcy, he moved his assets into Swiss numbered bank accounts and he died from cancer when his son Anthony was 22, and the family was never able to track down the missing money despite years of trying. Horowitz now lives in Central London with his wife Jill Green, Green produced Foyles War, the series Horowitz wrote for ITV. He credits his family with much of his success in writing, as he says they help him with ideas and he is a patron of child protection charity Kidscape. Anthony Horowitzs first book, The Sinister Secret of Frederick K Bower, was an adventure for children, published in 1979. In 1981 his second novel, Misha, the Magician and the Mysterious Amulet was published, in 1983 the first of the Pentagram series, The Devils Door-Bell, was released. This story saw Martin Hopkins battling an ancient evil that threatened the whole world, only three of four remaining stories in the series were ever written, The Night of the Scorpion, The Silver Citadel and Day of the Dragon. In 1985 he released Myths and Legends, a collection of tales from around the world
Anthony Horowitz
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Rugby School from The Close, the playing field where the game of rugby was invented
30.
Trigger Mortis
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Trigger Mortis is a 2015 James Bond novel written by Anthony Horowitz, and the latest Bond novel to be commissioned by the estate of Bonds creator Ian Fleming, which was published on 8 September 2015. The book is set in 1957 against the backdrop of the Space Race, Bonds mission is to protect a British racing driver at the Nürburgring racetrack. He begins with driving lessons from a lady driver, who shows Bond the ropes in a Maserati 250. Pussy finds herself a little tied up and painted a la Goldfinger, at the Nürburgring Bond beats the would be assassin with a pit manoeuvre at high speed and the true mission is then revealed. Trigger Mortis was announced in October 2014 and it contains Murder on Wheels, previously unpublished material written by Fleming for an unfilmed television series, which Horowitz used to write the opening chapter. The book title was revealed on 28 May 2015 to coincide with Flemings 107th birthday, in August 2015 it was announced that an audiobook of the novel would be narrated by actor David Oyelowo. The BBC Radio 4 drama series Book at Bedtime broadcast a reading by Rupert Penry-Jones in October and November 2015
Trigger Mortis
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First edition cover
31.
Charlie Higson
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Charles Murray Charlie Higson is an English actor, comedian, author, and former singer. He has also written and produced for television, born in Frome, Somerset, Higson was educated at Sevenoaks School, Kent and at the University of East Anglia in Norwich where he met Paul Whitehouse, David Cummings and Terry Edwards. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons of which Higson was the singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials 2 Tone Records label and this was after he had formed the punk band The Right Hand Lovers, wherein he performed as Switch. Higson then became a decorator – including decorating the house of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie – before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield with Paul Whitehouse and he came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two sketch show The Fast Show. He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, in 1994 Higson co-wrote the screenplay for the film thriller Suite 16. He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk from 2000 to 2001, subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Threes Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni. He has starred in Tittybangbang on BBC Three and appeared as a panellist on QI, in 2010 he co-directed and starred in the series Bellamys People. This has led Time Out to describe him as The missing link between Dick Emery and Brett Easton Ellis, in 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen the Young Bond series of James Bond novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the characters school-days at Eton. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School, where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans, the first novel, SilverFin, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the US. A second novel, Blood Fever, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the US, the third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007, in this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on 4 September 2008, Higson is currently writing a post-apocalyptic, zombie-horror series of books for young adults. The eponymous first book in the series, titled The Enemy, was released in the UK by Puffin Books in 2009, book 2, The Dead, was released in the UK in September 2010. Book 3, The Fear, was published on 15 September 2011, book 4, The Sacrifice, was released 20 September 2012. Book 5, The Fallen, was released 12 September 2013, at another, in John Lyons School, he revealed that the last book in his series would be called The End. The Hunted was published on 1 January 2014 and The End was published in October 2015, in 2011, Higson appeared with the original cast in an online-only version of The Fast Show sponsored by Fosters Lager. In June 2013 Higson wrote an adaptation of A Caribbean Mystery
Charlie Higson
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Charlie Higson in 2013
32.
Young Bond
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Young Bond is a series of young adult spy novels featuring Ian Flemings secret agent James Bond as a young teenage boy attending school at Eton College in the 1930s. The series, written by Charlie Higson, was planned to include only five novels, however, after the release of the fifth novel. Since the release of the first novel, SilverFin, in 2005, the series has very successful and has led to further works including games, a graphic novel. English-language versions of the books are published by Puffin Books in the United Kingdom, according to Charlie Higson, Ian Fleming Publications initially planned for him to only write one novel and that every subsequent novel would be written by a rotating author. This plan fell apart and Higson agreed to author future books in the series, however, comments made by Higson in an interview could suggest that after Higsons five books are completed, the series may be continued by another author. SilverFin, In 1933, thirteen-year-old James Bond arrives at Eton College for boys for the first time to continue his schooling, there he meets an American bully and his arms dealing father, Lord Randolph Hellebore. While on Easter break, Bonds adventure continues in the Highlands of Scotland, teaming up with Red Kelly, James finally reaches a castle and a loch and discovers a deadly secret. Blood Fever, In 1933, James Bond is back at Eton where he is now a member of a secret risk-taking club known as the Danger Society. When summer vacation arrives, Bond goes on a trip to the Italian island of Sardinia where he stays with his much older cousin Victor. While there, James investigates a Roman secret society known as the Millenaria that has planned throughout history to restore the Roman Empire and it seems the Millenaria are still active and are led by the sinister Count Ugo Carnifex. Double or Die, The third Young Bond novel is set entirely in England during Christmas, the book involves Russian spies attempting to build an early computer. The title of the book was chosen by fans via an online poll, Hurricane Gold, The fourth Young Bond novel, Hurricane Gold, is set in Mexico and the Caribbean. The book was released on 6 September 2007 in the UK, the book contains many references to Mayan mythology and much of the end is focused on it. By Royal Command, The fifth Young Bond novel was released in the UK on 3 September 2008, in this book, James Bond falls in love with his Irish maid, Roan. Bond leaves Eton College due to the incident with the maid and this book is set in multiple European countries including Austria, England, France, Germany and Switzerland. The Royal Family and the British secret service also play a part in the plot, the Young Bond Rough Guide to London, Puffin Books/Rough Guides 64-page booklet featuring London locations from Double or Die. Danger Society, The Young Bond Dossier, Puffin Books Complete and definitive guide to the world and it includes the Young Bond short story A Hard Man to Kill by Charlie Higson. An original Young Bond short story by Charlie Higson titled A Hard Man to Kill was published in the companion book Danger Society, The Young Bond Dossier on 29 October 2009
Young Bond
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Illustration of a young James Bond by
Kev Walker
33.
Miss Moneypenny
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Miss Moneypenny, later Eve Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bonds boss and head of the British Secret Service, although she has a small part in most of the films, it is always highlighted by the underscored romantic tension between her and Bond. On that note, she is not always considered to be a Bond girl, having never had anything more than a relationship with Bond. According to the film You Only Live Twice, she holds the rank of officer in the Womens Royal Naval Service. In Ian Flemings first draft of Casino Royale, Moneypennys name was originally Miss Petty Pettaval, which was taken from Kathleen Pettigrew, Fleming changed it to be less obvious. Miss Moneypenny is the secretary of M, the head of MI6. She holds the rank of Lieutenant RN, which is a rank for this position. She is cleared for Top Secret, Eyes Only, and Cabinet-Level intelligence reports, the latter of which she is required to prepare. Ms personal assistant is utterly dedicated to her work, which means she has time for a social life. A close confidante of her boss, she enjoys a flirtatious—though never consummated—relationship with James Bond. Moneypenny was never given any backstory until the film Skyfall, when she was re-introduced to the following the 2006 reboot of the series continuity. Moneypenny, now played by Naomie Harris and given the first name Eve, is originally an agent assigned to work with Bond on an operation in Istanbul. It ends in disaster when she accidentally shoots Bond while he is fighting with the mercenary they are chasing. She is temporarily suspended for this and reassigned to duty, assisting Gareth Mallory, the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. She later meets Bond in Macau and aids in locating an agent of Raoul Silvas before returning to London, after her return to London, she is a participant in another shootout with Silva, when Silva ambushes M at a public inquiry into MI6. By the end of the film, she decides to retire from fieldwork, in both the Bond novels and films based upon them, Moneypenny is smitten with Bond. For example, in the novel Thunderball, Fleming wrote that she often dreamed hopelessly about Bond, however, she never explicitly voices these feelings. Miss Moneypennys role in Flemings novels is even smaller than her role in the films, in the novels, Bond also has his own secretary, Loelia Ponsonby and later Mary Goodnight, both of whose lines and relationships were often transferred to Miss Moneypenny for the films
Miss Moneypenny
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Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny in
You Only Live Twice
Miss Moneypenny
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Caroline Bliss in
The Living Daylights
Miss Moneypenny
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Samantha Bond in
Tomorrow Never Dies
Miss Moneypenny
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Naomie Harris in
Skyfall
34.
List of highest-grossing films
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Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights and merchandising. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible, excluding income derived from video, broadcasting rights. Traditionally, war films, musicals and historical dramas have been the most popular genres, the only films in the top ten that are not adapted from a pre-existing property or a sequel are the top two, Avatar and Titanic, both directed by James Cameron. Animated family films have performed well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home-video era. Disney also enjoyed success with films such as Frozen, Zootopia and The Lion King, as well as with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story. Beyond Pixar animation, the Shrek, Ice Age and Despicable Me series have met with the most success, while inflation has eroded away the achievements of most films from the 1960s and 1970s, there are franchises originating from that period that are still active. Besides the Superman franchise, James Bond, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars and Star Trek films are still being released periodically, all grosses on the list are expressed in U. S. dollars at their nominal value, except where stated otherwise. With a worldwide gross of over $2. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful, Titanic earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals, in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theaters. After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion, when a film is highly exploitable as a commercial property, its ancillary revenues can dwarf its income from direct film sales. The Lion King earned over $2 billion in box-office and home video sales, Pixar also had another huge hit with Toy Story 3, which generated almost $10 billion in merchandise retail sales in addition to the $1 billion it earned at the box office. On this chart, films are ranked by the revenues from theatrical exhibition at their nominal value, twenty-eight films in total have grossed in excess of $1 billion worldwide, of which three have grossed over $2 billion, with Avatar ranked in the top position. Because of the effects of inflation, notably the significant increase of movie theater ticket prices. For example, in 1970, tickets cost $1.55 or about $6.68 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars, by 1980, prices had risen to about $2.69, a drop to $5.50 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars. Ticket prices have risen at different rates of inflation around the world. Another complication is release in multiple formats for different ticket prices are charged.50. Converting to a representative system that counts ticket sales rather than gross is also fraught with problems because the only data available for older films are the sale totals. Despite the inherent difficulties in accounting for inflation, several attempts have been made, Gone with the Wind—first released in 1939—is generally considered to be the most successful film, with Guinness World Records in 2014 estimating its adjusted global gross at $3.4 billion
List of highest-grossing films
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Gone with the Wind held the record of highest-grossing film for twenty-five years, and, adjusted for inflation, has earned more than any other film.
List of highest-grossing films
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The two highest-grossing films have both been directed and written by James Cameron.
List of highest-grossing films
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Films directed by Steven Spielberg have been the highest-grossing film of the year on six occasions, and on three occasions have been the highest-grossing film of all time.
List of highest-grossing films
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The Birth of a Nation pioneered many of the techniques used in film-making today, becoming the most successful film ever made at the time of its release.
35.
Dr. No (film)
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No is a 1962 British spy film, starring Sean Connery, with Ursula Andress and Joseph Wiseman, filmed in Jamaica and England, it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 novel of the name by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, in the film, James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent. The trail leads him to the base of Dr. No. Although the first of the Bond books to be made into a film, No was not the first of Flemings novels, Casino Royale being the debut for the character, the film makes a few references to threads from earlier books. This film also introduced the criminal organisation SPECTRE, which would appear in six subsequent films. No was produced on a low budget and was a financial success, while critical reaction was mixed upon release, over time the film has gained a reputation as one of the series best instalments. The film was the first of a series of 24 Bond films. No also launched a genre of secret agent films that flourished in the 1960s, the film also spawned a spin-off comic book and soundtrack album as part of its promotion and marketing. Production designer Ken Adam established a visual style that is one of the hallmarks of the film series. Strangways, the British Intelligence Station Chief in Jamaica, is ambushed and killed and they also break into Strangeways home/office, kill his secretary, and steal documents related to Crab Key and Dr. No. In response, MI6 agent James Bond is summoned to the office of his superior, M, Bond leaves for Kingston, but not before spending a night with a woman named Sylvia Trench. Upon his arrival at Kingston Airport, a female photographer tries to take Bonds picture and he is picked up by a chauffeur claiming to have been sent to take him to Government House, whom Bond determines to be an enemy agent. Bond instructs him to leave the road and, after a brief fight, Bond starts to interrogate the driver. During his investigation in Strangways house, Bond sees a photograph of a boatman with Strangways, Bond locates the boatman, named Quarrel, but finds him to be uncooperative. Bond also recognises Quarrel to have been the driver of the car that followed him from the airport, the CIA has traced the mysterious radio jamming of American rockets to the vicinity of Jamaica, but aerial photography cannot determine the exact location of its origin. Quarrel reveals that he has been guiding Strangways around the islands to collect mineral samples. During a search of Strangways house, Bond finds a receipt, Bond meets with Dent who says he assayed the samples for Strangways and determined them to be ordinary rocks
Dr. No (film)
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British cinema poster for Dr. No, designed by David Chasman and illustrated by
Mitchell Hooks.
36.
Eon Productions
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Eon Productions is a British film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. The company is based in Londons Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom. Eon, a closely held corporation, was started by film producers Albert R. Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman in 1961, at the time they became partners. No the year before they formed Danjaq, which for legal reasons became Eons holding company, Broccoli had been interested in the Bond novel rights for several years but was dissuaded from making them project by his former partner. When they dissolved their relationship he was free to pursue the property, for which Saltzman, the two were introduced by a New York writer who was acquainted with both, and formed a partnership within a week of meeting. The enterprise was and is still a business, including both wives of the principal partners, as well as several of their progeny, the latter group now carrying on their parents work. Albert almost immediately included Dana Broccolis college-aged son Michael G. Wilson in the early films and his engineering education was put to use in some of the series special effects. In 1975, after nine films, Harry Saltzman sold his shares of Danjaq to United Artists. Albert R. Broccolis name has appeared in the opening credit of every Eon-produced James Bond film. After Saltzman left, the credit was Albert R. Broccoli presents through to GoldenEye, even after Barbara Broccoli. On all films since Broccolis death, the credit is Albert R. Broccolis Eon Productions presents. Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre were co-distributed with Columbia Pictures, the video rights for all of Eons films are owned by MGM Home Entertainment, and are controlled by MGMs distributor 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment initially assumed the rights to Casino Royale. The Bond films produced by Eon Productions are, Dr, no in 1962, Eon has only made one non-Bond film, Call Me Bwana, starring Bob Hope. In 2008, Eon signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to develop fifteen thrillers and family films outside the Bond franchise, the company hopes the move will allow more British writers to establish themselves in the United States. In 2000, Eon productions served a cease and desist letter to Cheapass Games to stop it from using the name Mr. Bond in the title of its game Before I Kill You, in 2004, the game was reissued under the title James Ernests Totally Renamed Spy Game. James Bond games – list of games authorised by Eon Productions, Ian Fleming Publications – administers all of Ian Flemings literary oeuvre as well as continuation novels by other authors. Eon Productions at the Internet Movie Database
Eon Productions
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Films by year (
Films A–Z)
Eon Productions
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Portal
37.
James Bond in film
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The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond,007, who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest continually-running film series in history, in that time Eon Productions has produced 24 films, most of them at Pinewood Studios. With a combined gross of over $7 billion to date, the produced by Eon constitute the fourth-highest-grossing film series. Six actors have portrayed 007 in the Eon series, the latest being Daniel Craig, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced most of the Eon films until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. The single exception during this period was Thunderball, on which Broccoli, from 1984 Broccoli was joined by his stepson Michael G. Wilson as producer and in 1995 Broccoli stepped aside from Eon and was replaced by his daughter Barbara, who has co-produced with Wilson since. Broccolis family company, Danjaq, has ownership of the series through Eon. The Eon series has seen continuity both in the actors and in the production crews, with directors, writers, composers, production designers. No to For Your Eyes Only, the films were distributed solely by United Artists, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer absorbed United Artists in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films until 1995. MGM solely distributed three films from 1997 to 2002 after United Artists was retired as a mainstream studio, Feldman, and a 1983 remake of Thunderball entitled Never Say Never Again, produced by Jack Schwartzman, who had obtained the rights to the film from McClory. It was adapted for the screen by Anthony Ellis and Charles Bennett, Bennett was well known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, including The 39 Steps and Sabotage. Due to the restriction of a play, the adapted version lost many of the details found in the book, although it retained its violence. The hour-long Casino Royale episode, which starred American actor Barry Nelson as Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, in 1959 producer Albert R. Cubby Broccoli at Warwick Films expressed interest in adapting the Bond novels, but his colleague Irving Allen was unenthusiastic. Towards the end of Saltzmans option period, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz introduced him to Broccoli, a number of Hollywood studios did not want to fund the films, finding them too British or too blatantly sexual. Eventually the two signed a deal with United Artists for 100 per cent financial backing and distribution of seven films, Saltzman and Broccoli also created the company Danjaq, which was to hold the rights to the films which Eon Productions was to produce. Eon had originally intended to film Flemings novel Thunderball first, but Kevin McClory took Fleming to the High Court in London for breach of copyright over the book, and so Eon decided to film Dr. Eon asked several directors—Bryan Forbes, Guy Green, Val Guest and Guy Hamilton—to helm the film, Eon had originally hired Wolf Mankowitz and Richard Maibaum to write Dr. Nos screenplay, partly because of Mankowitzs help in brokering the deal between Broccoli and Saltzman. An initial draft of the screenplay was rejected because the scriptwriters had made the villain, Dr. No, a monkey, and Mankowitz left the film. To play the role of Bond, Sean Connery was not Broccoli or Flemings first choice, but he was selected after Patrick McGoohan had turned down the role
James Bond in film
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John Barry composed the scores of 11 Bond films between 1963 and 1987.
James Bond in film
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Roald Dahl, who wrote the script for
You Only Live Twice
James Bond in film
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Sean Connery in
Amsterdam in July 1971, filming for the seventh Bond film
Diamonds are Forever.
James Bond in film
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George Martin scored the music for
Live and Let Die.
38.
Spectre (2015 film)
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Spectre is the 24th instalment in the James Bond film series and the twenty-sixth overall. It was produced by Eon Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures and it is Daniel Craigs fourth performance as James Bond, and Christoph Waltzs first as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, with the film marking the characters re-introduction into the series. It was directed by Sam Mendes as his second James Bond film following Skyfall, with a written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade. With a budget around $245 million, it is the most expensive Bond film, the film marks Spectres first appearance in an Eon Productions film since 1971s Diamonds Are Forever, with Christoph Waltz playing the organisations leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Spectre was filmed from December 2014 to July 2015, with locations in Austria and it was released in the United States one week later, on 6 November. Upon its release, the film received positive reviews from critics. The theme song, Writings on the Wall, performed by the British singer Sam Smith won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Spectre grossed over a total of $880 million worldwide, the second largest unadjusted income for the series after its predecessor Skyfall. Following Gareth Mallorys promotion to M, James Bond takes leave from MI6 and he attacks Marco in a helicopter and before pushing him out, shoves him out of the helicopter grabs his ring which is emblazoned with a stylised octopus. C campaigns for Britain to form Nine Eyes, a surveillance and intelligence co-operation initiative. Bond disobeys Ms order and travels to Rome to attend Sciarras funeral and that evening he seduces Sciarras widow Lucia, who tells him about Spectre, an organisation of businessmen with criminal and terrorist connections to which her husband belonged. Bond uses Sciarras ring to infiltrate a Spectre meeting, where he identifies the leader, when Oberhauser addresses Bond by name, he is pursued across the city by Spectres assassin, Mr. Hinx. Bond asks her to investigate Oberhauser, who was presumed dead years earlier, Bond locates White in Austria, where he learns that White is dying of thallium poisoning. He admits to growing disenchanted with Quantum and tells Bond to find and protect his daughter, Dr. Madeline Swann, who take him to LAméricain. Bond approaches Swann, and after rescuing her from Hinx, the two meet Q, through Sciarras ring, Q forensically links Oberhauser to Bonds previous missions, identifying Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene and Raoul Silva as Spectre agents. Swann reveals that LAméricain is a hotel in Tangier, the two travel to the hotel and discover White left evidence directing them to Oberhausers operations base in the desert. After an encounter with Hinx that sees the assassin killed, Bond, there, Oberhauser reveals that Spectre has been funding the Joint Intelligence Service while staging terrorist attacks around the world, creating a need for the Nine Eyes programme. In return C will give Spectre unlimited access to intelligence gathered by Nine Eyes, allowing them to anticipate, Bond is tortured as Oberhauser discusses their shared history, after the younger Bond was orphaned, Oberhausers father, Hannes, became his temporary guardian. Believing that Bond supplanted his role as son, Oberhauser killed his father and staged his own death, subsequently adopting the name Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond and Swann overpower him and escape, destroying the base in an explosion and leaving Blofeld to die
Spectre (2015 film)
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Theatrical release poster
Spectre (2015 film)
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Christoph Waltz plays Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the film's villain.
Spectre (2015 film)
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At the age of 50,
Monica Bellucci became the oldest actor to be cast as a
Bond girl.
Spectre (2015 film)
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Sam Mendes returned as director.
39.
Casino Royale (1967 film)
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Casino Royale is a 1967 spy comedy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is loosely based on Ian Flemings first James Bond novel, the film stars David Niven as the original Bond, Sir James Bond 007. Forced out of retirement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of international spies, he battles the mysterious Dr. Noah. The films slogan, Casino Royale is too much, Charles K. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, failed to come to terms. Believing that he could not compete with the Eon series, Feldman resolved to produce the film as a satire, the budget escalated as various directors and writers got involved in the production, and actors expressed dissatisfaction with the project. Casino Royale was released on 13 April 1967, two prior to Eons fifth Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. The film was a success, grossing over $41.7 million worldwide. Critical reception to Casino Royale, however, was negative, some critics regarded it as a baffling. Since 1999, the rights have been held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All implore Bond to come out of retirement to deal with SMERSH who have been eliminating agents, when Bond continues to stand firm, his mansion is destroyed by a mortar attack at the orders of M, who is, however, killed in the explosion. Bond travels to Scotland to return Ms remains to the grieving widow, however, the real Lady Fiona has been replaced by SMERSHs Agent Mimi. The rest of the household have been replaced, with SMERSH’s aim to discredit Bond by destroying his celibate image. Attempts by a bevy of beauties to seduce Bond fail, but Mimi/Lady Fiona becomes so impressed with Bond that she changes loyalties, on his way back to London, Bond survives another attempt on his life. Bond is promoted to the head of MI6 and he learns that many British agents around the world have been eliminated by enemy spies because of their inability to resist sex. Bond is also told that the sex maniac who was given the name of James Bond when the original Bond retired has gone to work in television and he then orders that all remaining MI6 agents will be named James Bond 007, to confuse SMERSH. He also creates a programme to train male agents to ignore the charms of women. Moneypenny recruits Coop, an expert who begins training to resist seductive women. Bond then hires Vesper Lynd, a retired agent turned millionaire, to recruit baccarat expert Evelyn Tremble, having embezzled SMERSHs money, Le Chiffre is desperate for money to cover up his theft before he is executed
Casino Royale (1967 film)
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British cinema poster for Casino Royale, illustrated by
Robert McGinnis
Casino Royale (1967 film)
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David Niven as Bond and
Barbara Bouchet as Miss Moneypenny
Casino Royale (1967 film)
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Peter Sellers as Evelyn Tremble
40.
Parody
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A parody is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work—its subject, author, style, or some other target—by means of satiric or ironic imitation. As the literary theorist Linda Hutcheon puts it, parody … is imitation, another critic, Simon Dentith, defines parody as any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice. Parody may be found in art or culture, including literature, music, animation, gaming, the writer and critic John Gross observes in his Oxford Book of Parodies, that parody seems to flourish on territory somewhere between pastiche and burlesque. According to Aristotle, Hegemon of Thasos was the inventor of a kind of parody, in ancient Greek literature, a parodia was a narrative poem imitating the style and prosody of epics but treating light, satirical or mock-heroic subjects. Indeed, the components of the Greek word are παρά para beside, counter, against, Thus, the original Greek word παρῳδία parodia has sometimes been taken to mean counter-song, an imitation that is set against the original. The Oxford English Dictionary, for example, defines parody as imitation turned as to produce a ridiculous effect, because par- also has the non-antagonistic meaning of beside, there is nothing in parodia to necessitate the inclusion of a concept of ridicule. Old Comedy contained parody, even the gods could be made fun of, the Frogs portrays the hero-turned-god Heracles as a Glutton and the God of Drama Dionysus as cowardly and unintelligent. The traditional trip to the Underworld story is parodied as Dionysus dresses as Heracles to go to the Underworld, roman writers explained parody as an imitation of one poet by another for humorous effect. In French Neoclassical literature, parody was also a type of poem where one work imitates the style of another to produce a humorous effect, the Ancient Greeks created satyr plays which parodied tragic plays, often with performers dressed like satyrs. In classical music, as a term, parody refers to a reworking of one kind of composition into another. The term is sometimes applied to procedures common in the Baroque period. The musicological definition of the parody has now generally been supplanted by a more general meaning of the word. In its more contemporary usage, musical parody usually has humorous, even satirical intent, in which familiar musical ideas or lyrics are lifted into a different, often incongruous, context. Musical parodies may imitate or refer to the style of a composer or artist. For example, The Ritz Roll and Rock, a song and dance performed by Fred Astaire in the movie Silk Stockings, parodies the Rock. Conversely, while the work of Weird Al Yankovic is based on particular popular songs. The first usage of the parody in English cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Ben Jonson, in Every Man in His Humour in 1598, A Parodie. The next citation comes from John Dryden in 1693, who also appended an explanation, suggesting that the word was in common use, in the 20th century, parody has been heightened as the central and most representative artistic device, the catalysing agent of artistic creation and innovation
Parody
–
Comedian
Charlie Chaplin impersonating
Hitler for comic effect in the satirical film
The Great Dictator (1940)
Parody
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Screenshot of a scene in
Jurassic Park (1993) featuring a
Tyrannosaurus rex (left), parodied by Rex the Dinosaur in
Toy Story 2 (1999).
Parody
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Satirical political cartoon that appeared in
Puck magazine, October 9, 1915. Caption "I did not raise my girl to be a voter" parodies the anti-
World War I song "
I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier ". A chorus of disreputable men support a lone anti-suffrage woman.
Parody
–
Reggie Brown, a voice actor and
Barack Obama impersonator
41.
Never Say Never Again
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It is the second adaption of Flemings Thunderball, which was previously adapted as the 1965 film of the same name. Unlike the majority of Bond films, Never Say Never Again was not produced by Eon Productions, McClory, one of the original writers of the Thunderball storyline, retained the filming rights of the novel following a rights controversy. Sean Connery played the role of James Bond for the seventh and final time, the films title is a reference to Connerys reported declaration in 1971 that he would never again play that role. As Connery was 52 at the time of filming, the features an aging Bond. Filming locations included France, Spain, the Bahamas and Elstree Studios in England, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to date, owns the distribution rights and also distributes Eons Bond films, and the company has handled subsequent home video releases of the film. After MI6 agent James Bond,007, fails a routine training exercise, his superior, M, while there, Bond witnesses a mysterious nurse named Fatima Blush giving a sadomasochistic beating to a patient in a nearby room. The mans face is bandaged and after Blush finishes her beating, Bond is seen by Blush and an attempt is subsequently made to kill him in the clinic gym, but Bond manages to defeat the assassin. Blush and her charge, a United States Air Force pilot named Jack Petachi, are operatives of SPECTRE, a criminal organisation run by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. While doing so, he replaces the dummy warheads of two cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, SPECTRE then steals the warheads, intending to extort billions of dollars from NATO governments. Blush murders Petachi to cover SPECTREs tracks, under orders from the Prime Minister, M reluctantly reactivates the double-0 section and Bond is assigned the task of tracking down the missing weapons. He meets Domino Petachi, the sister, and her wealthy lover, Maximillian Largo. Bond follows Largo and his yacht to the Bahamas, where he spars with Blush, Bond is informed by Nigel Small-Fawcett of the British Consulate that Largos yacht is now heading for Nice, France. There, Bond joins forces with his CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter, Bond goes to a health and beauty centre where he poses as an employee and, whilst giving Domino a massage, is informed by her that Largo is hosting an event at a casino that evening. At the charity event, Largo and Bond play a 3-D video game called Domination, while dancing with Domino, Bond informs her that her brother had been killed on Largos orders. Bond returns to his villa to find that Nicole, his French contact, has killed by Blush. After a vehicle chase on his motorbike, Blush captures Bond and she admits that she is impressed with him, and forces Bond to declare in writing that she is his Number One sexual partner. Bond distracts her with promises, then uses his Q-branch-issue fountain pen to shoot Blush with an explosive dart, Bond and Leiter attempt to board Largos motor yacht, the Flying Saucer, in search of the missing nuclear warheads. He attempts to make Largo jealous by kissing Domino in front of a two way mirror, Largo becomes enraged, traps Bond and takes him and Domino to Palmyra, Largos base of operations in North Africa
Never Say Never Again
–
British
cinema poster for Never Say Never Again, illustrated by Renato Casaro
Never Say Never Again
–
This 007 motif takes the place of
Eon's gun barrel sequence.
Never Say Never Again
–
The Kingdom 5KR which acted as Largo's ship, the Flying Saucer
42.
Thunderball (film)
–
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the name by Ian Fleming. It was directed by Terence Young with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum, the search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo, the card-playing, eye patch-wearing SPECTRE Number Two. Backed by CIA agent Felix Leiter and Largos mistress, Domino Derval, the film had a complex production, with four different units and about a quarter of the film consisting of underwater scenes. Thunderball was the first Bond film shot in widescreen Panavision and the first to have running time of two hours. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Bond film series producers Albert R, the film was a success, earning a total of $141.2 million worldwide, exceeding the earnings of the three previous Bond films. In 1966, John Stears won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Thunderball is the second-most financially successful film of the series when adjusting for inflation, after Skyfall. Some critics and viewers showered praise on the film and branded it an addition to the series, while others complained of the repetitively monotonous aquatic action. In 1983, Warner Bros. released a film adaptation of the novel under the title Never Say Never Again. James Bond attends the funeral of Colonel Jacques Bouvar, a SPECTRE operative, Bouvar is alive and disguised as his own widow, but Bond identifies him. Following him to a château, Bond fights and kills him, escaping using a jetpack and his Aston Martin DB5, conveniently driven up by French agent, at a SPECTRE meeting in Paris, chaired by the enigmatic No. 1, Emilio Largo introduces the groups latest project, stealing two atomic bombs and holding NATO for ransom, the plot begins at the Shrublands sanatorium, located close to an air force base. Coincidentally, James Bond is at Shrublands to improve his health, there he notices Count Lippe, a suspicious man with a Tong tattoo. Bond searches Lippes room, but is leaving by Lippes clinic neighbour. Lippe tries to murder Bond with a traction machine, but Bond is saved by his physiotherapist. Lippe and Angelo, the man, are part of SPECTRES plot. Derval is murdered by Angelo, who takes his place on the flight, hijacks the plane, Angelo submerges the jet and the atomic bombs are retrieved by SCUBA-equipped SPECTRE operatives, commanded by Largo. Angelo is killed by Largo for trying to more money than had been agreed
Thunderball (film)
–
British cinema poster for Thunderball, designed and illustrated by
Robert McGinnis and
Frank McCarthy
Thunderball (film)
–
The home used as Largo's estate in the film
43.
Academy Award
–
The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
Academy Award
–
Academy Awards
Academy Award
–
31st Academy Awards Presentations,
Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1959
Academy Award
–
81st Academy Awards Presentations,
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2009
Academy Award
–
Pantages Theatre, 2008
44.
Q (James Bond)
–
Q is a fictional character in the James Bond films and film novelizations. Q, like M, is a job title rather than a name and he is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. Q has appeared in 21 of the 24 Eon Productions James Bond films, the exceptions being Live and Let Die, the character was also featured in both non-Eon Bond films, the 1967 Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. Q has always been portrayed in the James Bond films as a man, however, MI6 chief Alex Younger revealed in a speech at the 2017 Women in IT Awards that the real-life Q is a woman. In John Gardners novels, the post of Q is taken over by Ann Reilly and she also forms a relationship with Bond. It is supposed that she held the post for a short while only, charles Fraser-Smith is widely credited as the inspiration for Q due to the spy gadgets he built for the Special Operations Executive. These were called Q-devices, after the Royal Navys World War I Q-ships, in the sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, an expert who lived in Glasgow. In the films, Major Boothroyd first appears in Dr, No and later in From Russia with Love, although played by different actors. In most films in which Q appears, he is restricted to a behind the scenes involvement, either based in London or in secret bases out in the field. In the first film, Dr. No, Boothroyd is played by Peter Burton in only one scene in which he replaces Bonds.380 ACP Beretta M1934 pistol with the signature.32 Walther PPK handgun. He is referred to by M as the armourer, and later as Major Boothroyd, scheduling conflicts prevented Burton from reprising the role in From Russia with Love. No Beginning with From Russia with Love, Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every film except Live. In the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, as Q delivered the underwater Lotus, in Thunderball, Bond can be heard muttering Oh no when Q joins him in the Bahamas. Q has also assisted Bond in an active role in his missions in Octopussy. He frequently refers to Bond as 007, rather than by his name, in GoldenEye, Q shares a joke with Bond for the first time, and in The World Is Not Enough when he reveals his plan to retire, Bond is saddened at the prospect. Q signs off with Now pay attention,007, and then offers some words of advice, Q, Q, Always have an escape plan. – before he is lowered out of view, llewellyn died in a car crash just weeks after the films release
Q (James Bond)
–
Desmond Llewelyn as Q in the Eon series
Q (James Bond)
–
Ben Whishaw as Q in
Skyfall
45.
Bond girls
–
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest and/or female sidekick of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. There is no set rule on what kind of person a Bond girl will be or what role she will play and she may be an ally or an enemy of Bond, pivotal to the mission or simply eye candy. However, it has argued that Ms pivotal role in the plot of Skyfall qualifies her as a Bond girl or Bond woman. Nearly all of Ian Flemings Bond novels and short stories include one or more characters who can be said to qualify as Bond girls. While Flemings Bond girls have some traits, they also have a great many characteristics in common. One of these is age, The typical Bond girl is in her early to mid-twenties, roughly ten years younger than Bond, examples include Solitaire, Tatiana Romanova, Vivienne Viv Michel, and Kissy Suzuki. The youngest Bond girl may be Gala Brand, she is named for the cruiser in which her father is serving at the time of her birth, Bonds youngest sexual partner in the books is Mariko Ichiban, an 18-year-old masseuse in You Only Live Twice. The eldest Bond girls are Pussy Galore, whom Bond speculates is in her early 30s, Bond girls conform to a fairly well-defined standard of beauty. They possess splendid figures and tend to dress in a masculine, assertive fashion, wear little jewellery—and that in a masculine cut—wide leather belts. Nearly all of them are white, they often sport light though noticeable suntans and their hair may be any colour, though they typically wear it in a natural or casual cut that falls heavily to their shoulders. Their features, especially their eyes and mouths, are widely spaced. Even Domino, however, wears rather masculine jewellery, the best-known characteristic of Bond girls apart from their uniform beauty is their pattern of sexually suggestive names, such as Pussy Galore. Names with less obvious meanings are sometimes explained in the novels, Flemings penchant for double-entendre names began with the first Bond novel Casino Royale. Several Bond girls, however, have normal names, most Bond girls are apparently sexually experienced by the time they meet Bond. Tiffany Case was gang-raped as a teenager, Honey Ryder, too, was beaten, Pussy Galore was sexually abused at age 12 by her uncle. While there is no such clear-cut trauma in Solitaires early life, there are suggestions that she, too, avoids men because of their unwanted sexual advances in her past. Kissy Suzuki reports to Bond that during her career in Hollywood, when she was 17, They thought that because I am Japanese I am some sort of an animal. The cliché reaches its most extreme level in Goldfinger, in this novel Pussy Galore is portrayed as a practising lesbian when she first meets Bond, but at the end of the novel she sleeps with him
Bond girls
–
Clockwise from top left: Eva Green, Halle Berry, Michelle Yeoh and Jane Seymour
46.
Inspirations for James Bond
–
Although the stories and characters were fictional, a number of elements had a real life background, taken from people whom Fleming knew or events he was aware of. These included the name, which Fleming took from the American ornithologist James Bond. Some aspects of Bonds character and tastes replicate those of Fleming himself, on the morning of 17 February 1952 Ian Fleming started writing what would become his first book, Casino Royale, at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. He typed out 2,000 words in the morning, directly from his own experiences and imagination and finished work on the manuscript in just over a month, completing it on 18 March 1952. On another occasion Fleming said, I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting, like Peregrine Carruthers. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, after Fleming met the ornithologist and his wife, he described them as a charming couple who are amused by the whole joke. The ornithologist was obliquely referred to in the film Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnans Bond picking up a copy of Birds of the West Indies, during the Second World War Fleming was the personal assistant to the Director of the Naval Intelligence Division, Admiral John Godfrey. He reached the rank of commander—a rank he subsequently gave to his fictional creation—and was the planner for special operations unit 30th Assault Unit. Many of Bonds tastes and traits were Flemings own, including sharing the same golf handicap, Bonds tastes are also often taken from Flemings, as was his behaviour, with Bonds love of golf and gambling mirroring his creators. On average, Bond smokes sixty cigarettes a day, although he cut back to twenty five a day after his visit to a health farm in Thunderball. Fleming himself smoked up to eighty cigarettes a day, besides real life individuals, James Bond was also inspired by one of Dennis Wheatleys characters, the secret agent Gregory Sallust, based on Wheatleys late friend Gordon Eric Gordon-Tombe. The 007 number assigned to James Bond may have influenced by any number of sources. In the films and novels, the 00 prefix indicates Bonds discretionary licence to kill, Bonds number—007—was assigned by Fleming in reference to one of British naval intelligences key achievements of World War I, the breaking of the German diplomatic code. One of the German documents cracked and read by the British was the Zimmermann Telegram, which was coded 0075, outline of James Bond Official website of Ian Fleming Publications
Inspirations for James Bond
–
James Bond,
ornithologist; provider of Bond's name
47.
Royal Naval Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and this established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique, after initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navys fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers, prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as the hungry hundred. In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held positions in the shipping industry. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers, Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries, although considerably smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers, in convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, during the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR, which then became the main route for wartime officer entry. The service was called the Wavy Navy, after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve rings that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from RN/RNR officers. From 30 November 2007, mainly due to increasing involvement of the RNR in RN operations and deployments, similarly, RNR ratings no longer wear RNR shoulder flashes. From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch, in 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists
Royal Naval Reserve
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Members of the Royal Naval Reserve training at
Tramore,
County Waterford, c.1905
Royal Naval Reserve
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Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
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Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) nurses at work in the operating theatre.
Royal Naval Reserve
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The officers of HMS Forward on parade in Birmingham on 11 November 2010.
48.
Commander (Royal Navy)
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Commander is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is immediately junior to captain and immediately senior to the rank of lieutenant commander, officers holding the junior rank of lieutenant commander are not considered to be commanders. These ships were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns, fireships, hospital ships, the commanding officer of this type of ship was responsible for both sailing and fighting the ship and was thus its master and commander. Before 1750 the rank was considered as the limit of advancement for those without patronage. By contrast those with Parliamentary supporters or family connections were more likely only a nominal period as master and commander of a sloop before being elevated to post-captain. Over the later eighteenth century the rank evolved into a regular stage of service between lieutenant and captain. The Royal Navy shortened master and commander to commander in 1794, however, commanders unable to secure a ship were left ashore on half-pay, with limited prospects for future advancement. This promotions bottleneck was addressed from 1827 with the introduction of commanders as a second-in-command on larger vessels, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4, matching the army rank of lieutenant colonel. A commander in the Royal Navy is senior to a holding the rank of lieutenant commander. A commander may command a frigate, destroyer, submarine, aviation squadron or shore installation, formerly equivalent to the Army rank of major, a commander is now equivalent in rank to a lieutenant colonel in the British Army or a wing commander in the Royal Air Force. The rank of wing commander was derived from the rank of commander via the usage in the World War I Royal Naval Air Service. The rank insignia of a commander features three rings of gold braid with a loop in the upper ring
Commander (Royal Navy)
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A Royal Navy commander's rank insignia.
49.
Peter Fleming (writer)
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Robert Peter Fleming, OBE was a British adventurer and travel writer. He was the brother of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond. Peter Fleming was one of four sons of the barrister and MP Valentine Fleming, peters younger brother Ian was the author of the James Bond books. Fleming was educated at Eton, where he edited the Eton College Chronicle, the Peter Fleming Owl is still awarded every year to the best contributor to the Chronicle. He went on from Eton to Christ Church, Oxford, and he was a member of the Bullingdon Club during his time there. In 1935 he married the actress Celia Johnson, best known for her roles in the films Brief Encounter and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. He then joined the expedition, organised by Robert Churchward, to São Paulo, then overland to the rivers Araguaia and Tapirapé, Fleming and Roger Pettiward led a breakaway group. After acquiring two Tapirapé guides the party began a march to the area where Fawcett was reported to have last been seen and they made slow progress for several days, losing the Indian guides and Neville to foot infection, before admitting defeat. The expeditions return journey was made down the River Araguaia to Belém, the expedition returned to England in November 1932. Flemings book about the expedition, Brazilian Adventure, has sold well ever since it was first published in 1933, and it is still in print. Fleming travelled from Moscow to Peking via the Caucasus, the Caspian, Samarkand, Tashkent, the Turksib Railway and his experiences were written up in Ones Company. He then went overland in company of Ella Maillart from China via Tunganistan to India on a journey written up in News from Tartary and these two books were combined as Travels in Tartary, Ones Company and News from Tartary. All three volumes were published by Jonathan Cape, in Ones Company, for example, Fleming reports that Beijing was “lacking in charm”, Harbin was a city of “no easily definable character”. Changchun was “entirely characterless”, and Shenyang was “non-descript and suburban, G. Wodehouse in only a very distant and cultured way, have created a unique kind of travel book. Stuart Stevens retraced Peter Flemings route and wrote his own travel book, just before war was declared, Peter Fleming, then a reserve officer in the Grenadier Guards, was recruited by the War Office research section investigating the potential of irregular warfare. His initial task was to develop ideas to assist the Chinese guerrillas fighting the Japanese and his ideas were first incorporated into General Thornes XII Corps Observation Unit, forerunner of the GHQ Auxiliary Units. Fleming recruited his brother, Richard, then serving in the Faroe Islands and he was awarded the Order of the Cloud and Banner, a Chinese military honour, and in 1945 he received an OBE for his services. After the war Peter Fleming retired to squiredom at Nettlebed, Oxfordshire and he is buried in Nettlebed Churchyard
Peter Fleming (writer)
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Peter Fleming
50.
Norway in World War II
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The German occupation of Norway began on 9 April 1940 after German forces invaded the neutral Scandinavian country of Norway. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht. This period of occupation is in Norway referred to as the war years or occupation period. By the late 1930s, the Norwegian parliament had accepted the need for a military and expanded the budget accordingly. As it turned out, most of the plans enabled by the expansion were not completed in time. Although neutrality remained the highest priority until the invasion was a fait accompli, it was throughout the government that Norway, above all. By the autumn of 1939, there was a sense of urgency that Norway had to prepare, not only to protect its neutrality. Efforts to improve military readiness and capability, and to sustain an extended blockade, were intensified between September 1939 and April 1940, several incidents in Norwegian maritime waters, notably the Altmark incident in Jøssingfjord, put great strains on Norways ability to assert its neutrality. In March and April 1940, British plans for an invasion of Norway were prepared, mainly in order to reach and it was hoped that this would divert German forces away from France, and open a war front in south Sweden. It was also agreed that mines would be laid in Norwegian waters, because of Anglo-French arguments, the date of the mining was postponed from 5 April to 8 April. A major storm on 7 April resulted in the British Navy failing to make contact with the German shipping. Consistent with Blitzkrieg warfare, German forces attacked Norway by sea, the first wave of German attackers counted only about 10,000 men. In the other cities that were attacked, the Germans faced only weak or no resistance, the surprise, and the lack of preparedness of Norway for a large-scale invasion of this kind, gave the German forces their initial success. The major Norwegian ports from Oslo northward to Narvik were occupied by advance detachments of German troops, at the same time, a single parachute battalion took the Oslo and Stavanger airfields, and 800 operational aircraft overwhelmed the Norwegian population. The first troops to occupy Oslo entered the city brazenly, marching behind a German military brass band, on establishing footholds in Oslo and Trondheim, the Germans launched a ground offensive against scattered resistance inland in Norway. Allied forces attempted several counterattacks, but all failed, while resistance in Norway had little military success, it had the significant political effect of allowing the Norwegian government, including the royal family, to escape. The Blücher, which carried the main forces to occupy the capital, was sunk in the Oslofjord on the first day of the invasion, an improvised defence at Midtskogen also prevented a German raid from capturing the king and government. The Norwegian Army rallied after the confusion and on several occasions managed to put up a stiff fight
Norway in World War II
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German officers in front of the
National Theatre in
Oslo, 1940
Norway in World War II
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German infantry attacking through a burning Norwegian village, April 1940.
Norway in World War II
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King
Haakon and crown prince
Olav seeking refuge as the German
Luftwaffe bombs
Molde, April 1940.
Norway in World War II
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German troops enter Oslo, May 1940. In the background is the
Victoria Terrasse, which later became the headquarters of the
Gestapo.
