One-Time Bond Celebrates Birthday….Day 248 of Bond 365

Both Gert Frobe, as Auric Goldfinger from Goldfinger, and John McLusky, artist for the James Bond comic strip, passed away in 1988 and 2006 respectively. Both have been featured here on Spyfi & Superspies. Frobe was spotlighted on February 25 and McLusky on January 20.

Now, let’s talk about…..

George Lazenby

Born this day in 1939

James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

One time James Bond for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, George Lazenby was born in Goulburn, a city established in 1863 in New South Wales.

In 1964, Lazenby moved to London. Like all struggling actors, he held several jobs: mechanic, car salesman and model. A chance meeting with Albert Broccoli in 1966 left a lasting impression on the Bond producer as a potential Bond. Lazenby is said to have spend his last few pounds on a suit originally made for Sean Connery as well as a Rolex watch.

When Lazenby did audition for the role of Bond, he was selected based on his fighting skills displayed during fight sequence screen test. He is the one person of all the actors to play Bond that did not come to the role with any real acting experience. Lazenby had been in commercials and a very small role in a Bond spoof. However, he had a strong, masculine refine look about him that worked.

And then he quit the role before it premiered in 1969. He went on to guest appear in a television shows that were popular during their respective time periods. Lazenby had recurring roles in the Emmanuelle series, some Bond spoofs, commercials, and voice work.

He’s still an active actor and is a recurring guest at collector shows. I have met him a couple of times. The most recent time, I had the James Bond 007 Archives book with me for him to sign. He asked if he could look through it because he hadn’t seen the book yet. I asked if he would sign the photograph in the book snapped as Lazenby was tossing his hat onto the hook. He told me that he was the only Bond to successfully get his hat on the coat rack hook. He said that’s why his toss is shown on screen.

Over the years, OHMSS has gain accolades as being one of the best films in the history of the Eon Productions films. It is one of my favourites and in my humble opinion has the best soundtrack of all of the franchise’s films.

© 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.

Bond's Aston Martin Sighted in Beverly Hills....Day 243 of Bond 365

Since I don't happen to have a historical event to report on today, I was thankful that a co-worker, who know about my affection for Bond, mentioned she saw a news article about a scaled down model of the Aston Martin DB5 that featured in Goldfinger.

Prop Shop UK is currently building 100 one-third scale models of the million-dollar DB5 and replicates all the bells, whistles and gadgets we know and love from the film. And, if you live in or within driving distance of Aston Martin Beverly Hills (125 South Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills), then you are in for a treat: one of the models is on display in the showroom window.

If you salivating for your own and you happen to have an extra $45,000 burning a hole in your wallet, then you could have your very own!

Here's a link to the news video that aired on Channel 7 Eyewitness News - enjoy!

Please note that I'll be off-line for a National Academy of Recording Arts event in Los Angeles tomorrow, but Bond 365 will be back on Wednesday!

© 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.

Birthday Wishes to Sir Sean Connery…Day 237 of Bond 365

Sean Connery

Born this day in 1930

Bond. James Bond.

Connery as an infant

Thomas Sean Connery was born to blue-collar parents in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh and is of Irish and Scottish descent. He has a younger brother named Neil, who followed in his older brother’s footsteps by becoming an actor.

Connery as a child - such a cutie! 

Connery held a number labor jobs before going into acting. One of the most unusual jobs, and perhaps a bit macabre, was coffin polisher. For a time, he was a body builder and served in the Royal Navy. IMDB states that he received a medical discharge (stomach ulcers). At the age of 23, he decided to pursue acting.

In the Royal Navy

In 1954, IMDB has Connery’s first role (uncredited) in Let’s Make Up a romantic comedy starring Errol Flynn and Anna Neagle. However, 1957 was Connery’s first good year in acting in which he had his first major role in the film No Road Back and then in the television film Anna Christie the same year.

Connery when he was a bodybuilder

The biggest break came in 1962 of course when, in a smoke filled London club, audience-goers were introduced to Connery as he suavely stated “Bond. James Bond” in Dr. No. He would go on to star as Bond in seven films and voice Bond in the video game James Bond 007: From Russia with Love (2005).

A reflecting Connery

Cemented as a star with the James Bond franchise, Connery has had a successful acting career. I picked out stills from some of the films I have seen him in and enjoyed:

Michael Caine and Connery, The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Connery, Highlander (1986)

Christian Slater and Connery, The Name of the Rose (1986)

Connery, The Hunt for the Red October (1990)

Connery, A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Connery has been married twice. His first marriage to Diane Cilento resulted in a son Jason Connery, who became an actor and married actress Mia Sara. They had a son, Dashiell Quinn Connery in 1997. During his career, Connery has been nominated and won many acting awards including multiple lifetime awards. He officially retired from acting in 2006.

Connery in Maclean hunting tartan kilt

On a personal note, I do get to say that I am related (distantly) to Connery as we are both from the clan Maclean.

Connery, in reflection

© 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.

She’s Sexy at 90 – Honor Blackman….Day 234 of Bond 365

Honor Blackman

Born this day in 1925

Pussy Galore in Goldfinger

Londoner Honor Blackman was one of four children who attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. During the war, she became a dispatch rider and developed an athleticism that she has called upon in her acting career over the decades.

After the war, she took to the stage in London’s West End, first as an understudy then with roles in “The Gleam” (1946) and “The Blind Goddess” (1947). Her first onscreen role in the Michael Redgrave film Fame Is the Spur (1947) established an odd pattern in which Blackman’s characters would meet untimely deaths – sort of reminds me of Sean Bean’s characters always dying. Anyway, Blackman found steady work as an actor through the end of the decade.

During the 1950s, Blackman’s career suffered a personal setback when she and her husband, Bill Sankey, divorced. She took a couple of years to regain her health; she had to rebuild her acting career in the B films. Her calling came in 1961.

Decked in leather from head to toe, Blackman was cast as Mrs Cathy Gale opposite Patrick Macnee’s John Steed in the hugely influential television series The Avengers. Sexy and confidant, Blackman became a figure that inspired women as the feminist movement sparked to life during the 1960s and became a movement into the 1970s.

I have seen Jason and the Argonauts (1963) several times and I’m still surprised to learn that Blackman was Hera, the Greek goddess. A year later, she was Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. Like other Bond Girls after her, Blackman continued to work steady in the industry, but she never went on to bigger, brighter, memorable roles since then.

Blackman has been cast as a semi-regular character on several television series include Doctor Who (1986) as Professor Lasky, as Rula Romanoff in the soap opera Coronation Street (2004), and as Laura West in The Upper Hand (1990-1996).

Blackman is a Liberal Democrat; hence when she was asked if she would accept the honor of a CBE, she declined.

© 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.

The Graphic Designer That Changed the Face of Bond Credits…Day 220 of Bond 365

Today's spotlight of Robert Brownjohn is particularly interesting to me personally because I am uttering fascinated by typography. Brownjohn's vision and approach to blending fonts and the colorful, crazy and liberating nature of popular culture during the 1960s are probably best represented by his title designs for From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. The power of his modernist vision had a long term impact on the Bond films and became an enduring facet of the franchise. 

Robert Brownjohn

Born this day in 1925

Titles Design for From Russia with Love, Goldfinger

American graphic designer Robert Brownjohn was originally from Newark, New Jersey at the height of the roaring 20s, a time of great artistic experimentation in which new concepts and styles emerged. That, coupled with being a protégé of avant garde artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, led Brownjohn’s style to marry a rigid illustrative aesthetic with popular culture during the 1960s.

A page from Watching Words Move

After graduating from the Institute of Design in Chicago, Brownjohn became a freelance graphic design artist. He moved to New York, making a name for himself and fostering friendships within the social scene. While positive for his rising career; there was a darker side – he developed an addiction for heroin. He formed Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar and together they experimented with typographical design with such projects as Watching Words Move. One of their high profile clients was Pepsi-Cola Company. Within a handful of years after starting the company, Brownjohn moved his family to London and a country that was more tolerant of drug use. The company he founded still exists today as Chermayeff & Geismar.

Taking inspiration from Moholy-Nagy's 1920s projects

Settling into English city living, Brownjohn worked with a couple of advertising agencies in London and in 1963, he was approached to replace Maurice Binder, title designer for Dr. No and originally hired to title From Russia with Love. 

Brownjohn looked to his past studies with his mentor Moholy-Nagy, finding inspiration in his mentor’s 1920s constructivist projects experimenting with and projecting light. He took the clean font type and projected the credits against the shimmying hips, seductive rolling bare midriffs and shaking beaded breasts of belly dancers. Depending on one’s point of view, either Brownjohn should be eternally thanked or cursed because his artistic vision led to the franchise’s tradition to have sensual dancing women, wearing little or nothing at all, to be featured in the title sequences of the Eon Productions’ Bond films for many years thereafter.

The progressive graphic artist returned and completed the title design for Goldfinger. However, Brownjohn and Harry Saltzman apparently had a falling out, ending Brownjohn’s associating with the franchise. He did go on to complete the title sequence of two other films: comedy adventure Where the Spies Are (1965) starring David Niven and war mystery The Night of the Generals (1967), which featured a couple of Bond alum villains, Donald Pleasence and Charles Gray.

Sadly, this immense talent was gone at the age of 44 in 1970 when he died from a heart attack. It would have been fascinating to see how his art would have evolved from the influences of disco, punk and new wave sounds of the 1970s and 1980s.

© 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.

Commemorating Cinematographer Ted Moore….Day 219 of Bond 365

Ted Moore

Born this day in 1914

Director of Photography in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun

Ted Moore was originally from Benoni, Western Cape, South Africa. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1930 and served in the RAF during World War II. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) as well as a French Croix De Geurre. For part of his service, Moore worked with the film unit since by wartime, Moore had already been working as a cameraman in the film industry.

Moore got his professional start as a camera operator for the war drama Sons of the Sea (1939) and get this, an actor by the name of Ian Fleming was cast as a Naval Intelligence Officer – if that isn’t foreshadowing, I don’t know what is?! Some years later, Moore met up with what would become part of the core crew for the Bond franchise in the film Paratrooper (1953). For that film, Terence Young directed, Richard Maibaum was the screenwriter and it co-produced by Albert Broccoli. Further down into the credits, I found stuntman Bob Simmons as well. And, in 1956, Moore, Young and Broccoli joined forces again for Safari. This time, Moore led the Director of Photography for the second unit.

Moore did incredible work on seven Bond films as the cinematographer, creating numerous memorable scenes. Some of the other films that stand out in his filmography that I have seen: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), the disturbing Orca (1977), television mini-series The Martian Chronicles (1980), and the epic Clash of the Titans (1981), which was one of his very last projects.

Throughout Moore’s career, that spanned over four decades, he earned four accolades: for A Man for All Seasons (1966) he won an Academy Award and a BAFTA and for From Russia with Love (1963) he won a BAFTA and recognition from the British Society of Cinematographers.

In 1987, Moore passed away at the age of 72 in Surrey, England.

Interesting fact: Moore and actress Charlize Theron were both from Benoni and each earned the first Oscar for their respective fields (cinematography and acting) as representatives from South Africa. Moore was actually the very first South African to receive an Oscar.

© 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.

The most famous henchman? Harold Sakata’s Odd Job…Day 182 of Bond 365

Harold Sakata

Born this day in 1920

Oddjob in Goldfinger

I was anxiously looking forward to writing about Harold Sakata because as probably the most famous henchman of the James Bond films, I only know Sakata from his portrayal as Odd Job in Goldfinger (1964). I know that fan will argue for other henchmen, but I think the fact that he was mute lent an air of mystery and heightened the sense of danger from his character. 

Sakata was born Toshiyuki Sakata in Holualoa, Hawaii. He took an interest in sports, which he continued through adulthood. He participated in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and took home a Silver Medal in weightlifting. Afterwards, Sakata donned the name “Tosh Togo” and became a professional wrestler. He was considered a bad guy wrestler by supposedly partaking in bad sportsmanship through the fake action of throwing salt in his opponent’s eyes. His bad boy image may have been what attracted the attention of Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli.

The producers were looking to cast an actor who could convey a menacing presence without the assistance of dialogue. In Sakata, who had no acting experience, Saltzman and Broccoli saw their Odd Job. Did they know how iconic Sakata’s portrayal of Odd Job would become forever entrenched in the history of filmic James Bond?

Sakata had 30 acting credits according to IMDB. His roles seem to spread about evenly between film and television. He did quite a few guest appearances, including one on Gilligan’s Island, Hawaii Five-O and The Rockford Files. For the tv show Sarge (1971-1972), Sakata appeared multiple times as Takichi.

He passed away from liver cancer in Honolulu at the age of 62.

© 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 ‘The Real Q’ and a Thunderball Actor…Day 179 of Bond 365

John Stears with his land speeder from Star Wars (Wiki)

John Stears

Passed away this day in 1999

Special Effects in From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Man with the Golden Gun

Englishman John Stears was nicknamed ‘The Dean of F/X’ or ‘The Real Q’ because of his extensive special effects and innovations portfolio. According to his IMDB profile, Stears created the gadgets on the Aston Martin DB 5 that included the bullet-proof windows, rotating license plates and the machine-guns installed in the front bummers. His contributions do not stop there. He was also involved in the Star Wars franchise and his creativity spawned the lightsaber, the land speeder, the Death Star and robots C3PO and R2-D2.

Stears was nominated for four awards and won three: a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects for Star Wars (1977) shared with John Dykstra, an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects for Thunderball (1965) and an Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects for Star Wars (1977) shared with John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, and Robert Blalack.

Paul Stassino

Passed away this day in 2012

Angelo Palazzi and Major Francois Derval in Thunderball

Paul Stassino was born Phaedros Stassinos on the isle of Cyprus. At 17, he traveled to the UK and studied at the RADA in London. He was cast as Chalik in the British tv series Aggie in 1956 and his first filmic appearance was in the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Night Ambush the following year. Stassino did quite a few guest appearances on the small screen including working with Roger Moore on The Saint in three different roles in five episodes spanning 1962 through 1969.

Eventually Stassino moved to Greece, then back to Limassol on Cyprus where he was born. He passed away at the age of 82.

© 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.

Commemorating 100th Year of Young’s Birth…Day 171 of Bond 365

Today was spent at the Richard Nixon Library. It’s not located far from home, but it took having a German friend visit as the impetus for finally going. It was definitely worth the trip and the several hours going through the various wings of the library as well as Nixon’s birth house. I took a lot of photos and notes so I can do a write up very soon that I’ll post here.

On Set (Google Images)

Shaun Terrence Young

Born this day in 1915

Director for Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Thunderball

Writer (Uncredited) for Dr. No

Body Double: Pedro Armendariz in From Russia With Love

Director: Pre-Production for Goldfinger

Shaun Terrence Young was born in Shanghai, China where his father was a Police Commissioner. He attended public school and at some point, moved to England to attend St. Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge. Young got his start as a writer for The Fugitive (1939), a London Film Studios project about a man who becomes embroiled in blackmail and murder. War interrupted Young’s career as he was commissioned into the Irish Guards.

During the war, he was a paratrooper and was in the battle of Arnhem. He was wounded and convalesced in a Dutch hospital where he met a 16 year-old future starlet, who he directed in Wait Until Dark (1967). That young girl matured into Audrey Hepburn.

Dr. No Set (Google Images)

After the war, Young completed his first directorial debut was on Corridor of Mirrors (1948), a mystery starring Eric Portman, as well as a couple of Bond alums: Christopher Lee (it was his film debut as well) and Lois Maxwell. He also ran into Sean Connery when he directed Action of the Tiger (1957) and that association would become forever immortalized within the franchise. Maxwell recalled “Terrence took Sean under his wing. He took him to dinner, showed him how to walk, how to talk, even how to eat” (Wiki, ‘Terrence Young’). Taking Connery under his wing was not an isolated instance. When I met Luciana Paluzzi at one of the Hollywood Collector’s Show, she talked fondly of Young’s interest in and fatherly guidance he provided her.

Young worked on handful of Warwick films, which were produced by Albert Broccoli and led to Young being hired to direct the first Bond film, Dr. No. It was successful and well received, that Young was brought back for From Russia With Love and again for Thunderball. Although he filled other roles as well on the early films of the franchise, he did move on to direct several more films – 41 credits in all. His last film was Run For Your Life (1988). He suffered a fatal heart attack in 1994 in Cannes at the age of 79.

Bond Trivia: Young’s favorite Bond film is From Russia With Love and he liked to cast Desmond Llewelyn and Anthony Dawson.

© 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.

Birthdays Times Four: Young, Jenkins, Culver, and Cartlidge…Day 167 of Bond 365

Raymond Young

Born this day in 1918

Sierra in Goldfinger

I wasn’t able to find much on English actor Raymond Young when I was researching details about him. He started acting after World War II in a television movie titled She Stoops to Conquer (1949) in which he played ‘Young Marlow’ in the film. Young made a lot of guest appearances on television shows throughout his career of almost 80 credits. His last role as Porter was in the 1991 Jeeves and Wooster series. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 93.

Geoffrey Jenkins

Born this day in 1920

Author of Per Fine Ounce

Originally from South Africa, Geoffrey Jenkins was a journalist and novelist who wrote several stories about his country. He became a news correspondent during World War II and spent the war years in London working for Sunday Times. He met and became friends with Ian Fleming while at the newspaper.

 In 1959, Jenkins wrote A Twist of Sand, his first novel, which later was turned into a movie by the same name. Released in 1968, it starred Richard Johnson and Honor Blackman and was directed by Terence Young.

Jenkins did some research for Fleming for one of his Bond novels, but unfortunately Fleming died before writing the intended novel. After some back and forth negotiation, Gildrose Productions, which later became Ian Fleming Publications, offered Jenkins the job to write the first continuation novel. Jenkins submitted a manuscript titled Per Fine Ounce, but it was rejected. Sadly, only 18 pages of the story survives.

MI6-HQ has a nice biography on Jenkins here. 

Michael Culver

Born this day in 1938

Man in a Punt in From Russia With Love

Vulcan Bomber Crewman in Thunderball

Michael Culver first casting role was as Det. Con. Haywick in the tv series You Can’t Win (1961). While you may not remember him in his two guest appearances in From Russia With Love and Thunderball, if you are a Star Wars fan, then perhaps you remember him as Captain Needa in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. 

Culver has over 100 acting credits to his name, having appeared on the small screen and the silver screen in the intervening years of his career. In addition, he has been active in the theatre scene that rivals his broadcast projects. When he isn’t acting, he engages in activism to promote peace.

William P Cartlidge

Born this day in 1942

Producer for The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker

Assistant Director of You Only Live Twice

Englishman William “Bill” P. Cartlidge has been a writer, producer and director since he got his start in the business as a Third Assistant Director (uncredited) for Follow That Horse! in 1960. He has worked with two James Bond actors: Sean Connery and Roger Moore. In 2002, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Dinotopia (2002) as an Outstanding Miniseries.

© 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.

Mellinger Makes Second Appearance, Part II….Day 150 of Bond 365

Bit of a quick entry today due to prepping for a podcast to discuss H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cats of Ulthar that took place late this morning, and I’m headed to Los Angeles for a neofolk/pop performance at one of the small intimate venues in North Hollywood this evening. Have a good Saturday!

Michael Mellinger

Born this day in 1929

Kisch in Goldfinger

Kisch (Michael Mellinger) is one of the last henchmen of Auric Goldfinger to meet his death in the third James Bond film, Goldfinger (1964). Early on Kisch tranquillizes Bond per Goldfinger’s request. Later on, Kisch gasses the members of the Mafia after Goldfinger reveals his grand plan, Operation Grandslam. During the climatic fight scenes inside of Fort Knox, Kisch finds himself locked in the vault with Bond, Oddjob and a bomb. He panics and while trying to defuse the bomb, Oddjob grabs him and throws him over the railing. Kisch falls to his death.

Mellinger featured back on March 17 – read more about the man behind Kisch here.

© 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.