Take Two and..Action Mr. Wint….Day 122 of Bond 365

I’m getting to attend the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon in San Pedro later today, so I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss posting today’s Bond 365. 

I wanted to mentioned that today, John Gardner’s Cold (1996) and Raymond Benson’s The Man with the Red Tattoo (2002), both published by Hodder & Stoughton, were released this day in Bond history. I haven’t read either novel as yet however I have read some of their other writing, which I have found enjoyable. I would like to read more of their novels, but just never seems to be quite enough time in the day to get to everything!

Bob Kindred

Born this day in 1923

Second Unit Camerman/Camera Operator in From Russia With Love, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, For Your Eyes Only

There wasn’t any personal information that I could find for Bob Kindred, other than his filmography. He started working in 1948 on The Red Shoes as a clapper loader, loading the film into the camera magazines. Kindred would have also likely had clapperboard duties; making sure the shot information was correctly noted and then operate the board at the beginning of each shot. Apparently “clapper loader” is an English term while “second assistant camera” would have been used more often in the U.S.

Kindred worked his way up to focus puller for his second and third outing. As a focus puller, he would have been responsible for maintaining the sharpness of the subject being shot. This person would be knowledgeable with cinematography, leading to grasping important concepts that leads to working the camera as an operator.

For the rest of Kindred’s career, he worked as a camera operator or second unit cameraman for five Bond films that included Sean Connery and Roger Moore era titles. In addition, Kindred crossed paths with Bond alums such as Connery and with Christopher Lee when he worked on a few Hammer Horror films.

Bruce Glover

Born this day in 1932

Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever

Like Joanna Lumley, featured in yesterday’s entry, Bruce “Hellion” Glover seemed to be a natural at acting, having fallen into it after returning from the Korean War suffering with malaria. He appeared on and off Broadway from 1955 and had traveled out to Hollywood, working in a few television shows here and there. By the mid 1960s, the call was much stronger for him to make Los Angeles and Hollywood home.

Glover got his shot when he was cast as Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and is probably the role he is best known for. Afterwards, he returned to the small screen and continued to make appearances on just about every popular show of the 1970s and 1980s. I was actually intrigued by the fact that he played the Dealer in a little known film called Ghost Town (1988), which I wish would be released on DVD! (Looking at the IMDB entry, I’m not the only one either!)

I met Glover about two years ago at a Hollywood Collector’s Show in which the organizers hosted a Bond reunion. As I remember, he liked telling stories of working on Diamonds Are Forever. He signed my BIG James Bond Archives book from Taschen and invited me to come check out his classes on acting that he teaches in the LA area. Nope, I haven’t made it to a class yet. 

© Copyright. Michele Brittany. 2011 - 2015. All rights reserved. All text, graphics, and photos are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without written permission.