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James Bond has not only survived Goldfinger, Blofeld, Jaws, armies of henchmen and nefarious plots to destroy or conquer the world, 007 the movie franchise has survived numerous changes in actors playing the superspy, the real-world fall of the Soviet Union, and the fickle tastes of movie-goers during the past half-century.
This coming weekend, Nov. 9, “Skyfall” opens in theatres. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, “Skyfall” seems like the bazillionth James Bond movie (It is the 23rd in the Eon Productions series). The plot takes a bit of a different spin as Bond must save his British spy agency MI6, as his boss M’s past comes back to haunt her.
Judi Dench playing M represents another change that Bond has survived — women rising to positions of leadership, which seemed more impossible than any world-conquering devices revealed in 1962 when the first Bond movie, “Dr. No,” was released.
Of course, today, the biggest controversy surrounding Bond may be which actor is the best Bond. Is it Sean Connery? Roger Moore? Piece Brosnan? Or the latest Daniel Craig? Or perhaps your tastes run toward George Lazenby or Timothy Dalton.
Today, The Times presents a quick look at the world of Bond, James Bond, that encompasses something from all Bonds.
BOND MOVIES
A look at the “official” EON Production James Bond movies and the actors who played him.
Dr. No (1962) Sean Connery
From Russia with Love (1963) Connery
Goldfinger (1964) Connery
Thunderball (1965) Connery
You Only Live Twice (1967) Connery
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) George Lazenby
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Sean Connery
Live and Let Die (1973) Roger Moore
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Moore
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Moore
Moonraker (1979) Moore
For Your Eyes Only (1981) Moore
Octopussy (1983) Moore
A View to a Kill (1985) Moore
The Living Daylights (1987) Timothy Dalton
License to Kill (1989) Dalton
GoldenEye (1995) Pierce Brosnan
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Brosnan
The World Is Not Enough (1999) Brosnan
Die Another Day (2002) Brosnan
Casino Royale (2006) Daniel Craig
Quantum of Solace (2008) Craig
Skyfall (2012) Craig
THE OTHER BONDS
There have been a few non-Eon Bond movies that feature unexpected names, relatively unknown names and the best-known Bond name of all.
Casino Royale (1954) Sean Connery was not the first actor to play James Bond. Barry Nelson was the first Bond in this one-hour CBS television production that made Bond an American and called the spy Jimmy Bond.
Casino Royale (1967) In this comedy, yes comedy, James Bond, played by David Niven, has grown old, while others impersonate the spy, including Peter Sellers. Woody Allen plays Bond’s nephew, Jimmy Bond.
Never Say Never Again (1983) Speaking of aging Bonds, Sean Connery returned to the role playing him as an aging spy. Even starring the most famous Bond, since it was not an Eon Production, “Never Say Never Again” is not considered part of the regular Bond series of films.
Happy and Glorious (2012) Daniel Craig played Bond in this short film created as part of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies.
BOND GIRLS
Though their roles have often changed through the years, from damsels in distress and casual love interests to superspies in their own right, the “Bond girl” has become a staple of the film series. Some of the characters and the actresses who played them.
Honey Ryder: Ursula Andress (Dr. No)
Tiffany Case: Jill St. John (Diamonds Are Forever)
Pussy Galore: Honor Blackman (Goldfinger)
Kissy Suzuki: Mie Hama (You Only Live Twice)
Plenty O’Toole: Lana Wood (Diamonds Are Forever)
Solitaire: Jane Seymour (Live and Let Die)
Teresa di Vicenzo: Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)
Mary Goodnight: Britt Ekland (The Man with the Golden Gun)
Anya Amasova: Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Octopussy: Maud Adams (Octopussy)
Xenia Onatopp: Famke Janssen (GoldenEye)
Paris Carver: Teri Hatcher (Tomorrow Never Dies)
Dr. Christmas Jones: Denise Richards (The World is Not Enough)
“Jinx” Johnson: Halle Berry (Die Another Day)
Strawberry Fields: Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace)
BOND VILLAINS
What’s James Bond without the challenge of some powerful, strong and insidious villains? Some of the men, and women, who would topple the world but were toppled by Bond.
Dr. Julius No: Radio waves to interfere with missile guidance systems.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld: The bad guy who kept returning. Stroking his white, long-haired cat, Blofeld, played by different actors, is featured in “From Russia With Love,” “Thunderball,” “You Only Live Twice,” “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” “Diamonds Are Forever.”
Auric Goldfinger: With a penchant for painting women gold, he also hopes to radiate America’s gold supply by triggering an atomic device at Fort Knox.
Oddjob: With a steel hat that he tosses to kill his targets, Goldfinger’s henchman is a deadly man.
Dr. Kananga: Hopes to flood the American drug market with heroin with a little voodoo.
Francisco Scaramanga: He uses a golden gun to unerringly kill his targets while he plots to steal solar technology.
Jaws: Appeared in two Bond movies, “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and “Moonraker.” The nearly indestructible giant with steel teeth could not be killed. No matter how hard Bond tried, Jaws kept returning.
Alec Trevelyan/Janus: Carrying a deep sense of being betrayed, he plans to control the GoldenEye satellite to detonate a nuclear device.
Elektra King: Through patricide, she hopes to dominate the oil market.
Raoul Silva/Tiago Rodriguez: Javier Bardem plays this new Bond villain in “Skyfall,” with the aim of humiliating M before destroying her.
IAN FLEMING: The Man With the Golden Pen
Before becoming the world’s most successful movie series (yes, adjusted for inflation, the Bond series has still made more money than the Harry Potter series), James Bond was the main character in a number of books written by Ian Fleming. Written in 1952, “Casino Royale” was Fleming’s first Bond book. From 1953-1966, 11 Bond novels and two short-story collections followed. Fleming served in British naval intelligence during World War II. He died in 1964, the same year that witnessed the release of “Goldfinger,” which some argue is the best of all Bond films. Fleming also wrote the popular children’s story of a versatile car called “Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.” Several others have written additional James Bond stories; one such recent novel even claimed the author had abandoned his writing style to write in the style of Ian Fleming.
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