Hollywood Icons Celebrates James Bond....Day 175 of Bond 365

Happy Wednesday evening! It has been a long day of work and then off to a wine and canvas event with a good friend that I haven't seen in some time. We both had a lot of fun, but there's a reason I paint abstracts; I'll never be a master painter. Anyway, I just got settled and have less than two hours to post today and I already I'm beat, so this will be a shorter post.

Let's start with a Bond history lesson. Can you name the United Kingdom theatrical release of a James Bond film that premiered this day some years ago? I'll give you some hints:

• It marked a directorial debut of this person, who had been working with the franchise on a few previous bond films; 
• It combined the plots from two Ian Fleming short stories; 
• Filming locations included Greece, Italy, Spain, and England -- and some underwater footage in the Bahamas; 
• The film generated just shy of $200 Million; 
• Marked the last time the film was solely distributed by this company; 
• One of the stars was married to a person that starred in a later Bond film;
• One of the stars went on to be cast as Ian Fleming in a television project;
• Lewis Collins had been considered for James Bond in this film; 
• It did not feature Bernard Lee's M because he had passed away prior to filming his parts; 
• Apparently, one of the stars resorted to drinking to calm their nerves prior to completing certain scenes that involved heights; 
• One of the sets had been previously used for a war film; and
• The singer of the theme song appeared on screen.

I'll let you mull it over for a few minutes, or at least to the end of this post...

While I was the grocery store this morning, I came across this lovely face: 

It's a special collector's edition from Hollywood Icons and I think it may be the first retrospective magazine to focus on James Bond from Dr. No to Spectre, which will be out later this year. And, kudos to the group for including the "renegade" Bond films that included Barry Nelson's Casino Royale (1954), the parody of Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). Besides covering each film in at least a two-page spread, there were sections covering Ian Fleming, James Bond's Walther PPK, gadgets, cars (vroom!) and of course, beautiful women that have been in love with our British agent. Thumbing through the issue, I see a mix of photos familiar and new, so I think, for a collector it's a nod to pick up. The magazine costs $12.99 and weighs in at 115 pages. 

And, if you still cannot think of the movie that premiered, then it was the twelfth Bond film that premiered this day in 1981: For Your Eyes Only! 

© 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.

Stunts, Stars and a Director….Day 168 of Bond 365

Lee Tamahori

Born this day in 1950

Director of Die Another Day

Lee Tamahori is originally from Wellington, New Zealand and is the only Bond director to be of Maori ancestry. He got his start in show business as a boom operator for Skin Deep (1978), a New Zealand drama, which garnered a nomination for Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Tamahori has worked on 23 films as either director or as a second unit/assistant director since 1983. He directed Pierce Brosnan in his last outing as James Bond in Die Another Day (2002), which also marked the 40^th anniversary of the franchise’s beginning with Dr. No in 1962.

He has two regal sounding projects in post-production: the adventure film Emperor starring Sophie Cookson, Adrien Brody and Rutger Hauer (yay!), and an action drama titled The Patriarch set in rural New Zealand.

George Leech

Passed away this day in 2012

Numerous Credits

George Leech wore two hats in the industry: actor and stunts, which he seemed to balance well in terms of the Bond films. His earliest credit was as a stand-in for James Mason (boy, that must have been awesome!) in the film noir Odd Man Out in 1947. However, it was in 1956 that Leech carried a role in the ITV Television Playhouse episode titled ‘Teddy Gang’ and completed stunts in the film Helen of Troy, which starred Stanley Baker and Brigitte Bardot and directed by Robert Wise.

Let’s take a look at Leech’s contribution to the Bond films with stretched from Dr. No to A View To a Kill!

Stunts/Stunt Double: Joseph Wiseman for Dr. No

Man in Bulletproof Vest at Q Branch in Goldfinger

Stunts/Stunt Driver/Stunt Double: Sean Connery for Goldfinger

Disco Volante Crewman in Thunderball

Stunts for Thunderball, Casino Royale (1967), You Only Live Twice

Strangled SPECTRE Skier in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Stunt Arranger for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Stunts for Diamonds Are Forever

Cortina Gunman #2 in The Spy Who Loved Me

Stunts/Stunt Driver: Lotus Esprit for The Spy Who Loved Me

Henchman Shark Victim in For Your Eyes Only

Stunt Team for For Your Eyes Only

Stunt Driver/Explosion Stunt for Octopussy

Additional Stunts for Never Say Never Again

Stunt Double: Willoughby Gray for A View To a Kill

Jeffry Wickham

Passed away this day in 2014

Russian Control Room Officer in You Only Live Twice

English actor Jeffry (or Jeffrey) Wickham got his start on the television series An Age of Kings (1960) where he played a number of different roles. For much of his almost 100 acting credits, Wickham worked frequently on shows doing guest appearances. He was also one of a handful of actors that worked not only on a Bond project, but also on Doctor Who, where he was cast as Webster for the ‘Guests of Madame Guillotine’ episode in 1964. Wickham has the distinction of also working with another English institution: Hammer films. He was cast as Edgar in the ‘Carpathian Eagle’ episode of Hammer House of Horror, a television series in 1980.

In addition to all of the television appearances, Wickham was cast in a number of British films. Memorable roles would probably include The Remains of the Day (1993) in which he played Viscount Bigge and as Capt. Frank Barnes, joining Sean Connery in The Terrorists (1974).

© 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.

Celebrating 200! …..Day 146 of Bond 365

It’s kind of a special day – Spyfi & Superspies has hit 200 posts today! I don’t mean to sound cliché, but it does seem like yesterday when I celebrated 100 posts and now sitting with 200 posts, it does seem a bit surreal. I wish I could say that it has been an easy 100, but being candid, the commitment to post a blog a day has been tough some evenings when I just had no motivation. Happily, there have been several days where it has been hard to stop writing, especially when a person had an interesting past or worked on a project I admired. So, now on to 250!

Today in 2011, Hodder & Stoughton released Jeffery Deaver’s novel Carte Blanche, the 37th James Bond adventure, this time set in contemporary times, 2011. It was the first reboot of the Bond literary series with Bond being born in 1979; hence, Bond becomes an Afghanistan veteran rather than World War II/Cold War as created by Ian Fleming. I think reading a modern interpretation of James Bond in comparison to Fleming’s creation may reveal diverse and perhaps opposing character elements. I recently picked up a copy, so hopefully I can sit down soon and read through it.

Richard Maibaum

Born this day in 1909

Screenwriter for multiple Bond films

Celebrating 106^th birthday of screenwriter Richard Maibaum, I wrote a lengthy entry back on January 4. Here’s a link.

McCallum (right) accepting his BAFTA

Gordon K McCallum

Born this day in 1919

Sound Recordist for Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only

Dubbing Mixer for Diamonds Are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me

Chief Re-recording Mixer for Moonraker, Octopussy

I was blown away when I took a look at Gordon McCallum’s IMDB filmography. He had a whopping 324 sound department credits, which could have been a mini look at British cinema! He got his start as an uncredited boom operator (interiors) for the classic story A Canterbury Tale (1944) directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. His last credit as a dubbing editor was for The Jigsaw Man (1984). He worked on several amazing films over the intervening decades. I think one of my favorites was Zulu (1963) starring Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and newcomer Michael Caine. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Others include A Night to Remember (1958), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and Greystoke:  The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).

McCallum won an Academy Award for Best Sound on Fiddler on the Roof (1971) shared with David Hildyard and a BAFTA for Best Sound Track for Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) shared with Les Wiggins and Keith Grant. Interesting, he was also nominated for Diamonds Are Forever the same year he won for Fiddler on the Roof.

© 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.

Four Aces! Wiseman, Crewdson, Healy, and Glen…Day 135 of Bond 365

Joseph Wiseman

Joseph Wiseman

Born this day in 1918

Dr. Julius No in Dr. No

Believe it or not, Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman did act in a number of television shows and films, beyond his role as Dr. Julius No. Wiseman originally began acting on stage but in 1950, he was cast as Deleo in the film With These Hands. He played opposite some well known actors including Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952), Sir Laurence Olivier in The Betsy (1978), and Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962). He was offered the villainous role after producer Harry Saltzman saw him in Detective Story (1951).

Bond Trivia: Wiseman was the actor to pass away (2009) that had played a villain in Sean Connery films made by United Artist.

Crewdson on Set of The War Lover (Photo: David M Kay) 

John Crewdson

Born this day in 1926

Helicopter Pilot for From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only

Draco’s Helicopter Pilot in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Englishman John Crewdson most often was hired for his pilot skills, although he did also have four instances of acting as well. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, you may remember Crewdson grinning into the camera as he piloted one of the faux Red Cross aid copters into Blofeld’s fortification in the Swiss Alps. Apparently, that scene was a dress rehearsal for a real life event in which he was part of the Sealand special unit sent to a North Sea fortress.

From what I could find, Crewdson had a company called Film Aviation Services. He had gotten his flying experience from the British Army and RAF. He and his company were hired by Columbia Studios for the film The War Lover (1962) starring Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner, based on the 1959 novel by the same title written by John Hersey.

David Healy

David Healy

Born this day in 1929

Houston Radar Operator in You Only Live Twice

Vandenberg Launch Director in Diamonds Are Forever

It took awhile to find the elusive David Healy because of the chap from The Big Bang Theory kept showing up in my searches, but I’ll be honest, I got excited when I saw that Healy was involved in the film Labyrinth (1986). He was the voice of the Right Door Knocker – brings joy to my heart thinking back to that movie….Okay, I digress.

Our Bond alum Mr. Healy got his start in the television show, The Sentimental Agent, back in 1963 in which he play Alfie Prentice. He guest starred in such spy projects as Espionage, The Saint, The Double Man, Assignment K, and The Secret Service, among several listed in his filmography. He even voiced a video game, his last project actually, called Cluedo (think Clue) in which he was Professor Peter Plum. It was released two years after his death in 1995.

John Glen, director of eight Bond films! 

John Glen

Born this day in 1932

Englishman John Glen has held several roles in the James Bond franchise, including direction EIGHT Bond films:

Second Unit Director, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Editor, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

Second Unit Director, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Editor, The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Second Unit Director, Moonraker (1979)

Editor, Moonraker (1979)

Director, For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Director, Octopussy (1983)

Director, A View to a Kill (1985)

Clapper Loader for the pre-shot scenes of San Francisco, A View to a Kill (1985)

Director, The Living Daylights (1987)

Director, Licence to Kill (1989)

Glen got his start working as a messenger in the film industry. Like one or two of our previous Bond alums, Glen worked for Shepperton Studios under Alexander Korda (The Third Man) during the 1940s. Working through the various jobs within a film crew, Glen finally made his directorial debut in 1968’s “Somebody Loses, Sombody…Wins?” episode of the television series, Man in a Suitcase. During the 1970s, he consistently edited and held second unit directorial reigns on the Bond films. In the 1980s, he became the official director. Glen holds the record for directing the most Bond films (Guy Hamilton has seven).

Bond Trivia: According to IMDB, in four of his films for Eon Productions, Glen includes a scene in which Bond is startled by a sudden flight of one or more pigeons. I seriously wonder how Freud would analyze that tidbit? Or, how about the “double-taking pigeon”??

© 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.

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.

Staffell, Scoular and a Collection of Short Stories….Day 102 of Bond 365

It’s the day after an evening in Los Angeles attending a concert of Rome, Daemonia Nymphe, and Worm Ouroboros that played until about 1:30 AM this morning. A bit of a very late night for me, so I’ve been catching some short naps throughout the day. Throw in the mix two trips to the local veterinary clinic for my sick kitty and I feel like I’m going to need at least another day’s rest in my weekend somewhere.

Back in 1960 this day saw the UK release of Ian Fleming’s collection of short stories featuring James Bond wrapped up in a Richard Chopping cover (a brilliant one at that – love the symbolism!) and titled For Your Eyes Only. This was a departure from the full-length novels that Fleming had been writing, tucking between the release of Goldfinger and Thunderball. The stories included in the collection include “From a View to a Kill”, “For Your Eyes Only”, “Quantum of Solace”, “Risico”, and “The Hildebrand Rarity”.  The format Fleming incorporated may be familiar to English Literature enthusiasts: W. Somerset Maugham.

Fleming originally wrote four of the five stories with the intent that they would be used for television episodes, but the idea was dropped. I’m sure that Fleming was disappointed, since he would have still been trying to realize seeing James Bond manifested on the silver screen. There were some elements and characters that were used in the various Eon Production films. In the case of “Quantum of Solace”, only the title was used for the 22 Bond film.

Front Projection Technique (Wikipedia)

Charles Staffell

Born this day in 1915

Optical/Projection Effects for Diamonds Are Forever; Optical Effects for Live and Let Die; Front Projection for Octopussy; Front Projection for A View to a Kill

Carles Staffell’s career in optical and projection effects spanned five decades and included several critically acclaimed and immensely popular and influential. In an article covering the celebration of Pinewood Studios’ 70^th anniversary, The Independent had quoted Staffell regarding the development of the “independent frame” technique. Staffell had worked with V C David Rawnsley and inspired Staffell in his own visual effects projection techniques to the point that he was honored with an Academy Award of Merit in 1969. Staffell’s effects would help Stanley Kubrick recreate the Vietnam War in Full Metal Jacket. In addition, the British Society of Cinematographers has a visual effects award named in his honor.

Angela Scoular and George Lazenby in OHMSS

Angela Scoular

Passed away this day in 2011

Agent Buttercup in Casino Royale (1967); Ruby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

She attended the RADA and got her first television acting credit in the series No Hiding Place in 1963-1964. In 1967, she was cast in the non-Eon Productions’ Casino Royale as Buttercup and then two years later, she worked in the Eon Productions’ On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as Ruby, one of the ladies at Blofeld’s clinic where she was being cured of her allergy to chicken.

Scoular also acted in theatre with roles in classical and contemporary plays. Her last acting credit was on As Time Goes By as Glenys in 1996. Sadly, her death was self-induced.

© 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.

Here Comes the Sun. Colonel Sun….Day 87 of Bond 365

Colonel Sun

By Kingsley Amis as Robert Markham

UK book release this day in 1968

Kingsley Amis had written The James Bond Dossier and The Book of Bond as well as provide edits on The Man with the Golden Gun after Ian Fleming had died, so it did not seem all that fair fetched that Amis would be asked and readily accept the challenge of stepping in and continuing the James Bond story. Writing under the pseudonym Robert Markham, Colonel Sun was the first of many continuation Bond novels over the intervening decades. The UK publishing company Jonathan Cape released Amis book this day in 1968 with a cover contributed to artist Tom Adams, which is very much in the spirit of Salvador Dali’s painting titled Persistence of Memory (1931).

Ian Fleming Publications (at that time was Gildrose Productions) knew that the James Bond property was very profitable so they sought out a known author that they could commission to write a sequel. Having accepted the offer, Amis employed similar techniques that Fleming had used when writing his Bond novels. Amis drew from his travel experience by setting his story in Greece. He used the name of the boat he and his wife were on during their holiday, Bond Girl names came from friends and a family doctor becomes the doctor to Bond in an early chapter.

Amis pulled from Fleming’s prior to stories, settling on the concept of revenge. In the Fleming books, unless the movies, Bond has respect and admiration for M, which is interesting: apparently Amis did not like the character M, so in Colonel Sun, M is kidnapped. The villain, Colonel Sun Liang-tan is a nasty bit of work – a sadist and a torturer – and ushers in a new political power structure that sees Bond collaborating with the Russians, in opposition to the Chinese. Although the partnership structure has been modified, it is very similar to the dislike of the East expressed in Dr. No.

Colonel Sun did well financially and ranked very high in the bestseller lists at the time. Some critics welcomed the book and touted that Bond was back, however others were more critical and said Amis’ story paled in comparison with Fleming’s Bond stories. Even though the reviews were mixed the story was serialized in the Daily Express. The UK newspaper also ran it as a comic strip from 1969 – 1970. Titan Books, who has been reprinting those strips in omnibus volumes, reprinted this story in 2005.

Amis sought out opportunities to bring Colonel Sun to the silver screen, but ultimately was unsuccessful. That said, elements from his story have shown up in a few of the Eon Productions films. For example, the kidnapping of M happened in The World is Not Enough and Colonel Sun Liang-tan inspired Colonel Tan-Sun Moon in Die Another Day. And, Greece was used as a setting in For Your Eyes Only.

© 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.

Half Dozen of Bond and a Trailer on the Side….Day 86 of Bond 365

Yeah! The teaser trailer for Spectre released earlier this afternoon. I recognized the locales that we have been seeing promotional stills and shots of in the past couple of months. It’s cool to see those items congeal into the semblance of a forthcoming film. The shots inside the church stood out for me as minimalist yet intriguing. So, what do you think?

Thunderball

UK book release in 1961 (Jonathan Cape)

I haven’t read this book yet. Given the history behind it, which I will not go into in this blog (read the Wikipedia entry for more information on that front), I am anxious to read it. I want to read the eight leading up to it and then read through this one and see if there are many style and narrative differences in Thunderball that were not there in the prior books.

The cover of the book is another Richard Chopping illustration. I like his covers quite a bit. Sterile, distant, and aloof, yet textured with layers of meaning and representation. On the Wikipedia page, I liked the pull quote that Fleming wrote to Chopping: “The title of the book will be Thunderball. It is immensely long, immensely dull and only your jacket can save it!”

Richard Marner

Richard Marner

Born this day in 1921

Russian Spacecraft Communicator in You Only Live Twice

It was about a week ago that Richard Marner appeared in Bond 365. Let’s take a look at March 18, commemorating his passing in 2004.

Julian Glover

Julian Glover

Born this day in 1935

Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only

Julian Glover came from a BBC family. His mother was a journalist and his father a radio producer. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and honed his acting skills at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He became a regular in many of the television series in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s where Glover often played sophisticated villains. In face, he is the only actor to appear in these popular franchises – Star Wars, Bond and Indiana Jones – and as a villain in all three. And Glover, like a number of other actors I have been featuring on Bond 365, has acted in a Bond film and in the Doctor Who franchise.

According to IMDB, Glover audition for the role of James Bond in the 1960s and then in John Glen’s memoirs, had suggested Pierce Brosnan for the Bond role. Glover is still acting. If you happen to watch a little show called Game of Thrones, he plays Grand Maester Pycelle.

Talisa Soto

Talisa Soto

Born this day in 1967

Lupe Lamora in Licence to Kill

Talisa Soto has been successful as a model where her beautiful face and body have graced such magazines as Glamour, Sports Illustrated, Mademoiselle, and Vogue. She started appearing in films in 1984’s The Pope of Greenwich Village. Her third acting credit was for Lupe Lamora in Licence to Kill starring Timothy Dalton and Carey Lowell. It seems that for the most part, she was cast in films, however she did guest star on a handful of television series, however Soto’s is probably also remembered for her role as Kitana in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Most recently, you might have seen her in Elysium.

Sean Connery and Gerry Duggan

Gerry Duggan

Passed away this day in 1992

Hawker in Goldfinger

Irish actor Gerry Duggan got his start in The Flying Doctor as Fred Winter in 1959. He went on to act in a mixture of television series and films through an acting career that lasted over thirty years.

As a Bond alum, he was cast in Goldfinger as Hawker, James Bond’s caddy as Bond plays a round of golf with Auric Goldfinger. Let’s see Mr. Duggan in action:

Peter Diamond

Peter Diamond

Passed away this day in 2004

Stunts in A View to a Kill

Peter Diamond was a versatile individual. According to his IMDB profile, he was an actor, stuntman, fight coordinator, sword master, and second unit director/assistant director. Diamond started in the business in the 1954 television series The Three Musketeers as M. de Jussac, but he also was a fight arranger for two episodes. He worked on a lot television series as well as movies. In all, he had 74 acting credits and 121 stunt credits in a career that spanned half a century, which is an incredible length of time.

© 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.

Remembering Stuntman Bill Weston….Day 84 of Bond 365

Bill Weston as Blayden Butler in The Living Daylights

Bill Weston

Passed away this day in 2012

Stunts for You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, and The World Is Not Enough

Stunt Double: Christopher Walken/Stunt Team on A View to a Kill

Blayden Butler in The Living Daylights

Bill Weston’s career as a stunt performer spanned approximately 40 years in almost one hundred projects that ranged from television to film. Interestingly, he worked on several Eon Productions (and one non-Eon) Bond films, yet his Wikipedia entry spotlights his work in Saving Private Ryan, Titanic and Raiders of the Lost Ark. All three are stunt heavy, but so are the Bond films!

Special note, Weston even worked on the Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (2006) movie that starred a young Alex Pettyfer as Alex Rider, based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz. I read the book and found it to a fun, young James Bond oriented book.

© 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.

Prolific Stuntman Powell Spotlighted….Day 68 of Bond 365

Eddie Powell from Alien Archives

Eddie Powell

Born this day in 1927

Stunts for From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights

Eddie Powell had a long career as a stuntman for a number of popular films including eleven Bond films (that includes the non-Eon Production Never Say Never Again). His career started in 1958 when he was 30 or 31 in The Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Ernest Borgnine. Besides completing stunts for the Bond franchise, Powell also worked on a few other well-known franchises: Alien and Aliens, Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and two Robin Hood films in 1991 (Robin Hood and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Daylight (1996) starring Slyvester Stallone and Viggo Mortensen was the last bit of stunt work that Powell did. In all, he had 57 credits over the span of almost 40 years.

Powell worked on some of the Hammer films during the 1960s, often filling in as stunt double for Christopher Lee:

Eddie Powell and Christopher Lee, on Hammer Studios set 

I think of the exertion and stamina required for stunt work that to me, it seems like Powell got a later start doing stunt work. He would have been in his early 50s for Alien and well into his 60s by the time of his last stunt credit. Powell did some acting as well, again staring around 1957, according to IMDB.

© 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.

Free Space if Playing Spyopoly....Day 32 of Bond 365

If we were playing "Spyopoly" then I believe I have landed on a "Free Space" for Day 32 of Bond 365. Since I'm still gathering names, birthdays, obituaries, events, etc. that occurred in the Bond world, I have yet to find something that happened on February 1. And, since I've had a pretty long weekend of writing, I'm feeling as though I need a Free Space tonight. However, I'm not going to leave you without anything to read.

Here's a look back at some of the news articles that were Bond and/or spy related this past week:

n.d. - Netflix will pull several Bond films today from their line up: A View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Live and Let Die, and Never Say Never Again (let's agree to disagree on whether this is an official Bond film, okay?).

01/24 – The Economist turns to world of James Bond for fingering spies....

01/26 – Mission Impossible 5 is pushing its release up for this coming summer rather than release around the same time as the much anticipated next installment of Star War. 

01/27 – The Americans and British have not cornered the market of spy films. There are a number of excellent Hindi spy films out there as well. Rajiv Vijayakar at Bollywood Hungama provides a 101 overview for spy enthusiasts who would like to educate themselves on what’s available and good in Bollywood. 

01/27 – Maxim article by Jared Paul Stern spotlights the glamour of Monaco where scenes from Never Say Never Again was shot. 

01/29 – The line blurs between analyst and operative as a paramilitary officer is appointed to head up the National Clandestine Services. Read more in this Washington Post article from Greg Miller.

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