Welcome to 2015 & Day 1 of Bond 365

Welcome to the first day of the 2015 and the first day of my Bond 365 Days. Each day I will be posting events that occurred for that day in the world of Bond. Events will include birthdays, obituaries, film and book releases, and other items of interest. It is a work in progress project, so there will likely be days in which I haven’t mentioned something that you know about. When that happens, please share in the comments section.

I am focusing on Bond initially, but eventually I will expand this project to be inclusive of important dates, people, facts, and events from Eurospy and other products influenced by James Bond. So, when you start seeing mention of Robert Vaughn, Richard Harrison and others, you’ll know what’s up.

These daily posts will not take the place of my essays, announcements and such that you are used to reading when you come by. Those will continue, but with (fingers-crossed) more regularity, especially since 2015 will feature several spy films, television shows, books, and the yet to be announced projects. And of course, in the Bond world we’ll have a new James Bond comic book series from Dynamite and a new Bond film, Spectre!

Let’s get started!

Sean Connery and Zena Marshall in Dr. No

Zena Marshall

Born January 1, 1926

‘Miss Taro’ in Dr. No

Marshall was born in Kenya and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She debut in Casear and Cleopatra (1945, Gabriel Pascal), alongside another Bond star, Sir Roger Moore, who was making his own film debut as well. The beautiful brunette was often cast in “ethnic” roles, such as Miss Taro.

In a career that spanned about 20 years, Marshall worked with several big names in the industry. For example, Ray Milland in So Evil My Love, Richard Attenborough in The Departure, and Orson Wells in Three Cases of Murder. In addition to working with Moore, Marshall shared the silver screen with some other actors that would go on to become part of the Bond family. Bernard Lee (M, multiple Bond films), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore, Goldfinger), Gert Frobe (Auric Goldfinger, Goldfinger), and Bill Nagy (Midnight in Goldfinger, USAF General in You Only Live Twice). Some other interesting links include Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor Who, Terry-Thomas who starred in the Bond knock-off Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die that starred Mike Connors, and believe it or not, an actor named Ian Fleming! Her last performance was in The Terrornauts (1967).

Marshall passed away in 2009.

Blonde beauty, Suzy Kendall

Suzy Kendall

Born January 1, 1944

‘Prue’ in Thunderball

Kendall joined the Bond family when she played Prue in Thunderball, released the same year that she debuted in Up Jumped a Swagman in 1965. Kendall starred in 21 films from 1965 to 1977 with most being from the Italian giallo genre. Notable Bond alum she starred with included Jill St. John (Tiffany Case, Diamonds are Forever), Christopher Lee (Scaramanga, The Man with the Golden Gun), Martine Beswick (Zora, From Russia with Love; Paula Caplan, Thunderball), and Donald Pleasence (Blofeld, You Only Live Twice). And like Marshall, Kendall starred with Jon Pertwee and Terry-Thomas.

Orlando Bloom and Bob Anderson cross swords

Robert James Gilbert “Bob” Anderson

Passed Away January 1, 2012

Stunts and Choreography

Anderson had been a competitive fencer and competed at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki, representing Great Britain. He retired and became a trainer, however he also started choreographing fights when he coached Errol Flynn for The Master of Ballentrae. This eventually led Anderson to the Bond films. He did stunts and choreography duties in From Russia with Love, Die Another Day, and Casino Royale (the 1967 version).

He worked with several well-known franchises beyond Bond that included Star Wars, Superman, Highlander (the television series), The Lord of the Rings, and Pirates of the Caribbean. He also worked on Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon (which I think was a visually stunning film) in which he was a sword master. In a career that spanned over 50 years, he was quoted in the 2009 documentary Reclaiming the Blade, “I never took up the sword, I think the sword took me up.” 

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Thanks for joining me for Day 1. I hope you enjoyed it and will swing back tomorrow and see what happened in the world of Bond. 

Happy New Year and here's to 2015 - may it be a splendid year!