I don’t know about you, but boy has it been a week! Exciting
news in the world of Bond with the release of the first teaser and official
Daniel Craig photo for Spectre. There’s
been a lot of buzz around the gun he’s holding in the photo, by the way. And,
more generally, the first trailer for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. out and looks like it could be quite a fun movie. We
sure have some great watching coming up in the months ahead!
Joe Don Baker (Google) |
Joe Don Baker
Born this day in 1936
Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, CIA Agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies
Joe Don Baker is one of the few actors to play an ally and a
villain in the Bond films. He was
a villain when he played Brad Whitaker, but returned as CIA Agent Jack Wade. In
addition, he played opposite two Bonds: Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.
He had several roles in Westerns and in crime films, usually
as a cop. Some of his stand out films included Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman, Walking Tall as Sheriff Buford Pusser, Mitchell as police detective Mitchell, The Natural with Robert Redford, Cape Fear with Robert De Nire and Nick Nolte, and in 2012, Mud with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon.
Maud Adams (Google) |
Maud Adams
Born this day in 1945
Andrea Anders in The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy as the title character, and in briefly as an extra
in A View to a Kill
She was born Maud Solveig Christina Wilkstrom, but took the
professional name Maud Adams. She originally wanted to be an interpreter (she
is fluent in five languages), but was discovered in 1963 when she accidentally
fell into modeling when a photo of her was submitted to the Miss Sweden contest. She moved to Paris, then New York City and
worked as an internationally recognized model. By the 1970s, she was guest
starring in some of the popular American television shows. However, it was as
Andrea Anders, that her acting career was solidified. Critics reviewed her
performance as “tough but haunted” (Wiki).
Adams was invited back to play Bond Girl Octopussy in the
movie with the same title. In this film, she was a mysterious smuggler who
surrounded herself with an army of women on her exotic island. Two years later,
she appeared briefly in A View to a Kill
as an extra in a crowd shot at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, if my memory
serves me. Roger Moore played James Bond in all three of the Bond films she
appeared in.
She has stayed close with the Bond family over the years. I
had the honor of meeting Ms. Adams twice, both at Bond reunions coordinated by
the Hollywood Collector Shows in the past few years. She is still very
beautiful; a bit reserved which I think maintains that aura of mystery about
her.
Aileen Lewis (Google) |
Aileen Lewis
Passed away this day in 2014
Chess Tournament Spectator in From Russia With Love
There was not much that I could find regarding Aileen Lewis.
Her acting career began in 1959 in The Ugly Duckling and concluded in 1977 with Sweeney! for a total of 12 acting credits. Besides From
Russia With Love, Lewis also had supporting
roles in war film The Dirty Dozen,
which starred another Bond alum, Telly Savalas, and Roman Polanski’s Repulsion. In addition, she appeared in an episode of Doctor
Who during John Pertwee’s era. If you have
my book, James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of
the Fictional Superspy, then you have
probably read John Vohlidka’s essay discussing the similarities between Pertwee
and Bond titled “Who, Doctor Who: 007’s Influence on the Pertwee Era of Doctor
Who.”
© Copyright. Michele
Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are
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