James Bond

“007” redirects here. For other uses, see 007 (disambiguation).
This article is about the fictional character. For other uses, see James Bond (disambiguation).
James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, featured in twelve novels, two anthologies and a film series.[2] After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Charlie Higson. In July 2007 it was announced that Sebastian Faulks has been commissioned to write a Bond novel for publication in 2008. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the secret agent character. For the last three Bond movies, the screenplay has been written by Neil Purvis and Robert Waide.
Initially famed through the best-selling novels, James Bond is best known from the EON Productions film series, twenty-one of which have been made as of 2007. The 22nd EON-produced Bond adventure is currently in production. In addition there have been two independent feature productions (a 1967 spoof and 1983's Never Say Never Again) and one Fleming-licenced American television adaptation of the first novel, aired in 1954. The EON Productions films are generally described as the "official" films originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by eventual producer Harry Saltzman in the late 1950s when Bond was a popular novel series; this term is used throughout this article.[3]
Contents[hide]
1 Ian Fleming's creation and inspiration
2 Books
3 The World of James Bond
4 Adaptations
4.1 Films
4.1.1 Overview
4.1.2 The EON films
4.2 Non-EON Films, Radio and Television Programmes
5 James Bond's influence on movies and television
6 Music
7 Video games
8 Comic strips and comic books
9 Bond characters
10 Vehicles and gadgets
11 References
12 See also
13 External links
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[edit] Ian Fleming's creation and inspiration
Main articles: James Bond (character) and Inspirations for James Bond

The six "official" portrayers of James Bond.Top from left: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger MooreBottom from left: Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig
Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) (more commonly, MI6). He was created in January 1952 by British journalist Ian Fleming while on holiday at his Jamaican estate, Goldeneye. The hero, James Bond, was named after an American ornithologist, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide book Birds of the West Indies. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, had a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye. Of the name, Fleming once said in a Reader's Digest interview, "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, blunt instrument wielded by a government department."[4]

Ian Fleming modeled the James Bond character partially with Cary Grant in mind, such as shown in the 1962 film That Touch of Mink.[5] Sean Connery was selected for the first James Bond movie because of his likeness to Grant. Likewise, the later Bond, Roger Moore, was also selected for sharing Grant's wry sense of humor.
Nevertheless, news sources speculated about real spies or other covert agents after whom James Bond might have been named. Although they are similar to Bond, Fleming confirmed none as the source figure, nor did Ian Fleming Publications nor any of Fleming's biographers, such as John Pearson or Andrew Lycett.
James Bond's parents are Andrew Bond, a Scotsman, and Monique Delacroix, from Canton de Vaud, Switzerland. Their nationalities were established in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Fleming emphasized Bond's Scottish heritage in admiration of Sean Connery's cinematic portrayal, whereas Bond's mother is named after a Swiss fiancée of Fleming's. A planned, but unwritten, novel would have portrayed Bond's mother as a Scot. Ian Fleming was a member of a prominent Scottish banking family.[6] In his fictional biography of secret agent 007, John Pearson gave Bond's birth date as 11 November (Armistice Day) 1920; however, there is no evidence of it in Fleming's novels. Some have suggested that Fleming was inspired by the playboy and real secret agent Dušan Popov, a Serb double agent for the British and the Germans. In the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond's family motto is found to be "Orbis non sufficit" ("The world is not enough"). The novel also states that the family that used this motto may not necessarily be the same Bond family James Bond came from.[7]

Hoagy Carmichael - another James Bond role model.
After completing the manuscript for Casino Royale, Fleming allowed his friend – later his editor – poet William Plomer to read it. Plomer liked it and submitted it to Jonathan Cape, who did not like it as much. Cape finally published it in 1953 on the recommendation of Fleming's older brother Peter, an established travel writer.[8]
Most researchers agree that James Bond is a romanticized version of Ian Fleming, himself a jet-setting womanizer. Both Fleming and Bond attended the same schools, preferred the same foods (scrambled eggs, coffee), maintained the same habits (drinking, smoking, wearing short-sleeve shirts), shared the same notions of the perfect woman in looks and style, and had similar naval career paths (both rising to the rank of naval Commander). They also shared similar height, hairstyle, and eye colour. Some suggest that Bond's suave and sophisticated persona is based on that of a young Hoagy Carmichael. In Casino Royale, the anti-heroine Vesper Lynd remarks, "[Bond] reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Likewise, in Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking.... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."[9]
Fleming did admit to being partly inspired by his service in the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty, most notably an incident depicted in Casino Royale, when Fleming and Naval Intelligence Director Admiral Godfrey went on a mission to Lisbon en route to the United States during World War II. At the Estoril Casino, which harboured spies of warring regimes due to Portugal's neutrality, Fleming was 'cleaned out' by a "chief German agent" in a game of Chemin de Fer. Admiral Godfrey's account differs in that Fleming played Portuguese businessmen, whom Fleming fantasized as German agents he defeated at cards. Moreover, references to "Red Indians" in Casino Royale (four times; twice in the final page) are to his own 30 Assault Unit.

[edit] Books
Main article: James Bond (novels)
In February 1952, Ian Fleming began writing his first James Bond novel. At the time, Fleming was the foreign manager for Kemsley Newspapers, owners of The Daily Express in London. Upon accepting the job, Fleming asked for two months yearly vacation in his contract—time spent writing in Jamaica. Between 1953 and his death in 1964, Fleming published twelve novels and one short-story collection (a second collection was published posthumously). Later, continuation novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Gardner, and Raymond Benson, who was the first American author of James Bond, last published in 2002. The Young Bond series of novels was begun in 2005, by Charlie Higson.[
[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Films

[edit] Overview
Main article: James Bond (films)
From 1962 through 2006, six actors have portrayed James Bond in "official" films:
Sean Connery (1962–1967; 1971)
George Lazenby (1969)
Roger Moore (1973–1985)
Timothy Dalton (1987–1989)
Pierce Brosnan (1995–2002)
Daniel Craig (2006–present)
While according to James Bond: The Secret World of 007 Bond is 6' 1", only two of the actors who have played him are that height. The others range from 5' 11" (Daniel Craig) to 6' 2 1/2" (George Lazenby).
In the late 1950s, EON Productions guaranteed the film adaptation rights for every 007 novel except for Casino Royale (those rights were recovered in 1999[12]) So in 1962, the first adaptation was made in Dr. No, which starred Sean Connery as 007. Connery starred in 5 more films, and after his initial portrayal, he was followed by George Lazenby (for 1 film), Roger Moore (for 7 films), Timothy Dalton (for 2 films), Pierce Brosnan (for 4 films) and Daniel Craig (currently 1 film). As of 2007, there have been 21 films. The twenty-first official film, Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as James Bond, premiered on 14 November 2006,[13] with the film going on general release in Asia and the Middle East the following day.[14] Notably, it is the first Bond film to be released in China.[15] The sequel to Casino Royale is currently in production. Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland director Marc Forster is set to start filming in January 2008. The film is scheduled for a November 2008 release.
The twenty-one Bond films have grossed over $4 billion worldwide, making it the second highest grossing film series ever (behind Star Wars).
James Bond's influence on movies and television
Main article: James Bond parodies

James Bond has been parodied in numerous TV shows, including Red Dwarf, shown above
James Bond has long been a household name and remains a huge influence within the spy genre. The Austin Powers series by writer, producer and comedian Mike Myers, and other parodies such as Johnny English (2003), OK Connery, the "Flint" series starring James Coburn as Derek Flint, the "Matt Helm" movies starring Dean Martin, and Casino Royale (1967) are testaments to Bond's prominence in popular culture.[17]
1960s TV imitations of James Bond such as I Spy, Get Smart, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. went on to become popular successes in their own right, the latter having enjoyed contributions by Fleming towards its creation: the show's lead character, "Napoleon Solo," was named after a character in Fleming's novel Goldfinger; Fleming also suggested the character name April Dancer, which was later used in the spin-off series The Girl from U.N.C.L.E..[18] A reunion television movie, The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1983), is notable for featuring a cameo by George Lazenby as James Bond in tribute to Fleming (for legal reasons, the character was credited as "JB").
Japanese manga and anime super-thief Arsène Lupin III from the series Lupin III by Monkey Punch also has several Bond-inspired traits, including use of a Walther hand gun, his desire for women, use of gadgets, as well as his cool under fire demeanor. Lupin is also shown to be an excellent driver of nearly any vehicle, much as Bond is shown in several of the films.
The Nickelodeon animated series Doug had a secret agent character named Smash Adams, who was clearly inspired by Bond. The character's theme music even resembled Monty Norman's classic theme for the character. Nickelodeon's sketch comedy series All That once did a James Bond parody called Jimmy Bond.
In The Avengers, some time after the departure of the character Cathy Gale (played by actress Honor Blackman), the character of John Steed (played by Patrick Macnee) receives a Christmas card from her. He comments, "It's from Mrs Gale! I wonder what she's doing in Fort Knox?" – the intended destination for Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. In further coincidence, this comment is made to Emma Peel – played by Diana Rigg who would later appear as Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Macnee himself, a friend of Roger Moore, would later appear as Sir Godfrey Tibbett in A View to a Kill. Joanna Lumley (Purdey in the late Avengers series) can also be seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in a little role with only one or two words.[19]
Similarly, four episodes of the TV series Arrested Development (For British Eyes Only, Forget-Me-Now, Notapusy and Mr. F) referenced the Bond films. The spoofing of the Bond films is evident in the episode titles, vocal and instrumental music cues, and the gun barrel shot at the end of the episode accompanied by the subtitle "Michael Bluth will return in..." Also, on the British TV show Red Dwarf, James Bond was parodied in the form of Ace Rimmer, the alternate universe equivalent of one of the main characters.
George Lucas has said on various occasions that Sean Connery's portrayal of Bond was one of the primary inspirations for the Indiana Jones character, a reason Connery was chosen for the role of Indiana's father in the third film of that series.[20][21]
An Amiga computer game, James Pond is also clearly a homage to Bond.[22]

[edit] Music
Main article: James Bond music
The "James Bond Theme" was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated by the John Barry Orchestra for 1962's Dr. No, although the actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. In 2001, Norman won £30,000 in libel damages from the British paper The Sunday Times, which suggested that Barry was entirely responsible for the composition.[23]
Barry did go on to compose the scores for eleven Bond films in addition to his uncredited contribution to Dr. No, and is credited with the creation of "007," used as an alternate Bond theme in several films, as well as the popular orchestrated theme "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Both the "James Bond Theme" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" have been remixed a number of times by popular artists, including Art of Noise, Moby, Paul Oakenfold, and the Propellerheads. The Beatles used a portion of the "Bond theme" in the introduction of their song "Help" as released on the American version of the "Help" LP. The British/Australian string quartet also named bond (purposely in lower case) recorded their own version of the theme, entitled "Bond on Bond."[24]
Barry's legacy was followed by David Arnold, in addition to other well-known composers and record producers such as George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch and Éric Serra. Arnold is the series' current composer of choice, and recently completed the score for his fourth consecutive Bond film, Casino Royale.[25]
The Bond films are known for their theme songs heard during the title credits sung by well-known popular singers (which have included Tina Turner, Paul McCartney and Wings and Tom Jones, among many others). Shirley Bassey performed three themes in total. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the only Bond film with a solely instrumental theme, though Louis Armstrong's ballad "We Have All the Time in the World," which serves as Bond and his wife Tracy's love song and whose title is Bond's last line in the film, is considered the unofficial theme. Perhaps one of the best known compositions is the title song to The Spy Who Loved Me, which is also known as "Nobody Does It Better". Written by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and sung by Carly Simon it features both lyric and orchestral arrangements in the credit sequences of the film.
The only singer, to date, to appear within the titles is Sheena Easton, who sang the theme for For Your Eyes Only. The only singer of a title song to appear within the film itself as a character, to date, is Madonna, who appeared (uncredited) as a fencing instructor, Verity, as well as contributing the theme for Die Another Day. Chris Cornell performs "You Know My Name" in Casino Royale. He is the first male lead vocalist to perform a 007 song since a-ha in 1987 for "The Living Daylights." This is also the first Bond theme song since 1983's Octopussy to use a different title than the film. Although many of the theme songs were successful hits, the only theme song to hit #1 in the U.S. was Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" which hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1985.[26]
In 1998, Barry's music from You Only Live Twice was adapted into the hit song Millennium by producer and composer Guy Chambers for British recording artist Robbie Williams. The music video features Williams parodying James Bond, and references other Bond films such as Thunderball and From Russia With Love. It should also be noted that the video was filmed at Pinewood Studios, where most of the Bond films have been made.
In 2004 the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps won the Drum Corps International World Championship with 007, the music of James Bond as composed by David Arnold. The Cavaliers performed selections from GoldenEye ("Hovercraft Theme" and "Welcome to Cuba"), Die Another Day, and "Tomorrow Never Dies".

[edit] Video games
Main article: James Bond (games)

Everything or Nothing featured Pierce Brosnan as James Bond
In 1983 the first Bond video game, developed and published by Parker Brothers, was released for the Atari 2600, the Atari 5200, the Atari 800, the Commodore 64, and the Colecovision.[27] Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on either the films or using original storylines.
Bond video games, however, didn't reach their popular stride until 1997's GoldenEye 007 by Rare for the Nintendo 64.[28] Subsequently, virtually every Bond video game has attempted to copy the accomplishments and features of GoldenEye 007 to varying degrees of success; even going so far as to have a game entitled GoldenEye: Rogue Agent that had little to do with either the video game GoldenEye 007 or the film of the same name. Bond himself plays only a minor role in which he is "killed" in the beginning during a 'virtual reality' mission, which served as a tutorial for the game.
Since acquiring the licence in 1999, Electronic Arts has released eight games, five of which have original stories, including the popular Everything or Nothing, which broke away from the first-person shooter trend that started with GoldenEye 007 and instead featured a third-person perspective. It also featured well known actors including Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum, Judi Dench, John Cleese and Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, although several previous games have used Brosnan's likeness as Bond. In 2005, Electronic Arts released another game in the same vein as Everything or Nothing, this time a video game adaptation of From Russia with Love, which allowed the player to play as Bond with the likeness of Sean Connery. This was the second game based on a Connery Bond film (the first was a 1980s text adventure adaptation of Goldfinger) and the first to use the actor's likeness as agent 007. Connery himself recorded new voice-overs for the game, the first time the actor had played Bond in twenty-two years.
In 2006, Activision secured the licence to make Bond-related games, currently shared with EA. The deal will become exclusive in September 2007.[29] and release a game to tie in with the 22nd Bond movie, due for release in November 2008.

[edit] Comic strips and comic books
Main articles: James Bond comic strips and James Bond comic books
In 1957 the Daily Express, a newspaper owned by Lord Beaverbrook, approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips. After initial reluctance by Fleming who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed and the first strip Casino Royale was published in 1958. Since then many illustrated adventures of James Bond have been published, including every Ian Fleming novel as well as Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun, and most of Fleming's short stories. Later, the comic strip produced original stories, continuing until 1983.
Titan Books is presently reprinting these comic strips in an ongoing series of graphic novel-style collections; by the end of 2005 it had completed reprinting all Fleming-based adaptations as well as Colonel Sun and had moved on to reprinting original stories.
Several comic book adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years, as well as numerous original stories.

[edit] Bond characters
Main articles: List of James Bond allies, List of James Bond villains, and Bond girl
The James Bond series of novels and films have a plethora of allies and villains. Bond's superiors and other officers of the British Secret Service are generally known by letters, such as M and Q. In the novels (but not in the films), Bond has had two secretaries, Loelia Ponsonby and Mary Goodnight, who in the films typically have their roles and lines transferred to M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny. Occasionally Bond is assigned to work a case with his good friend, Felix Leiter of the CIA. In the films, Leiter appeared regularly during the Connery era, only once during Moore's tenure, and in both Dalton films; however, he was only played by the same actor twice. Absent from the Brosnan era of films (though replaced by Jack Wade), Felix returned in Craig's first James Bond film Casino Royale in 2006.
Bond's women, particularly in the films, often have double entendre names, leading to coy jokes, for example, "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger (a name invented by Fleming), "Plenty O'Toole" in Diamonds Are Forever, and "Xenia Onatopp" (a villainess sexually excited by strangling men with her thighs) in GoldenEye.
Throughout both the novels and the films there have only been a handful of recurring characters. Some of the more memorable ones include Bill Tanner, Rene Mathis, Felix Leiter, Jack Wade, Jaws and recently Charles Robinson. J.W. Pepper is also a recurring character. .[30]

[edit] Vehicles and gadgets
Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles, List of James Bond gadgets, and List of James Bond firearms
Exotic espionage equipment and vehicles are very popular elements of James Bond's literary and cinematic missions. These items often prove critically important to Bond in successfully completing his missions.

The Aston Martin DB5 is probably the most famous and recognized Bond car
Fleming's novels and early screen adaptations presented minimal equipment such as From Russia with Love's booby-trapped attaché case. In Dr. No, Bond's sole gadgets were a Geiger counter and a wristwatch with a luminous (and radioactive) face. The gadgets, however, assumed a higher, spectacular profile in the 1964 film Goldfinger. The film's success encouraged further espionage equipment from Q Branch to be supplied to 007. In the opinion of many critics and fans, some Bond films have included too many outlandish gadgets and vehicles[31], such as 1979's science fiction – oriented Moonraker and 2002's Die Another Day, in which Bond's Aston Martin could actually become invisible thanks to a technology Q refers to as adaptive camouflage. Since Moonraker, subsequent productions struggled with balancing gadget content against the story without depicting a technology-dependent man, to mixed results.
Bond's most famous car is the silver grey Aston Martin DB5, as seen in Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale. The films have used a number of different Aston Martin DB5s for filming and publicity; one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in Arizona for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector. That specific car was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970.[32]
In Fleming's books, Bond had a penchant for "battleship grey" Bentleys, while Gardner awarded the agent a modified Saab 900 Turbo (nicknamed the Silver Beast) and later a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo.
In the James Bond film adaptations, Bond has been associated with several well-known watches, usually outfitted with high-tech features not found on production models. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Rolex Submariner, which appeared during the Sean Connery films. Roger Moore's James Bond was fond of Seiko quartz watches. Pierce Brosnan's and Daniel Craig's James Bonds were both devotees of Omega. The selection of James Bond's watch has been a matter of both style and finance, as product placement agreements with the watch manufacturers have frequently been arranged.
Bond's weapon of choice in the beginning of Dr. No is a Beretta in 6.35mm Browning caliber, also called "Lilliput", later replaced by the German-made Walther PPK in 7.65mm Browning. The PPK was used in every subsequent film and became his signature weapon until the ending of Tomorrow Never Dies, when Bond upgraded to the Walther P99. He has subsequently used the P99 pistol in Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, and Casino Royale.[30]
From Library JournalJames Bond is one of the few characters who has enjoyed a loyal following in print and on the silver screen for over 30 years, a feat rivaled perhaps only by the Star Trek crew. He has endured through several authors and a slew of suave British actors?even James Bond-lite Roger Moore couldn't detract from the super secret agent's popularity. Bond also has the distinction of being one of the few action heroes who with equal vigor has attracted men, who fantasize about being him, and women, who fantasize about being with him. Rubin here offers an A-Z listing of everything you always wanted to know about James Bond films but were afraid to ask. Beyond merely stating the facts, he also punctuates the listings with his own commentary on characters, actors, bits of trivia, etc. The text is further buttressed with hundreds of black-and-white stills. In sum, this is a rich resource for all Bond fans who will be both shaken and stirred by the multitude of factoids and photos. Recommended.?Michael Rogers, "Library Journal"Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Book DescriptionThis compendium of 007 lore charts the famous faces, fascinating facts, and exotic locales that make up the timeless world of Britain's deadliest secret agent.