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 Lazenby is said to have spend his last few pounds on a suit originally made for Sean Connery as well as a Rolex watch.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.

Advertisements al a James Bond….Day 240 of Bond 365

Back in 1978, the world witnessed the passing of Robert Shaw. Since I featured Shaw earlier this month, I figured I could direct you to that day’s entry here and then go in a bit of a different direction with Bond 365 today.

Trying to beat the muggy heat of Southern California this evening and ignore the poolside chatter of kids playing “Marco Polo” for some reason my mind drifted to the concept of advertisements. In particular, I was curious about advertisements that featured James Bond.

Sean Connery

James Bond has been known for many things, including his choice of alcohol. In this case, it was Connery and Jim Beam.

George Lazenby

Here’s a Marlboro advertisement, which directly lifted scenes from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

And, let’s not forget the prominent product placement of Playboy as James Bond waited for his documents to finish being mimeographed.

Roger Moore

I found a couple of interesting advertisements featuring Moore. The Compomotive one provided a Bond movie plug.

Timothy Dalton

It was difficult to find any advertisements featuring Dalton as Bond. I finally found Lark cigarettes and an ad I’m guessing that ran in Asia.

Pierce Brosnan

The Omega watch ads were slick. I found this nice one of Brosnan, however finding ads of him, Dalton and Lazenby was challenging. I figured Dalton and Lazenby was on account of playing Bond the least of the group of actors, but it could be more about what was available/not available on the internet, or perhaps it was contractually based. 

Daniel Craig

The current face of James Bond, Daniel Craig also advertised Omega watches. Fascinating to see the different mood and tone of Brosnan’s (relaxed) vs. Craig’s (vigilant).

Although a silhouette, the likeness is Craig for Coca Cola Zero – he is cognizant of his calorie intake.

I love this advertisement for British tourism – all the symbols that consumers would recognize as uniquely Britain....I want to live like Bond - well, maybe more like, can I have the car? 

You

Yes, you! You know you want to smell like 007, hopefully just after a shower but not after a long intro scene leading up to the opening credits!

And lastly, an advertisement that didn’t need James Bond or anyone for that matter…

© 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.

Jenny Hanley Celebrates Birthday … Day 227 of Bond 365

Jenny Hanley

Born this day in 1947

The Irish Girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

The beautiful Jenny Hanley was born in Buckinghamshire and got her acting role as “Married Woman” (uncredited) in the film Joanna (1968). Her second role was as “The Irish Girl” in Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) in which she was the one of the girls at Blofeld’s mountain institute.

Hanley went on to work with the Hammer Films franchise, working with Bond alum Christopher Lee in Scars of Dracula (1970). She also bumped into Sir Roger Moore when she made a guest appearance as Magda in the episode “Someone Waiting” (1971) from the series The Persuaders! Most of Hanley’s work was in television with her last guest appearance on West Country Tales’ “The Wit to Woo” as Lavinia in 1983.

What is interesting is that Hanely’s grandmother, who was a photographer, happened to launch the career of a young male model: Roger Moore. And many years later, Hanley worked with him on The Persuaders! – very cool!

© 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.

Happy Birthday Bond Girl Halle Berry! … Day 226 of Bond 365

Halle Berry

Born this day in 1966

Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day

Halle Berry was born in Cleveland, Ohio and eventually became a model after having competed and won the Miss Teen All-American Pageant. In fact, she was the first runner up in the Miss U.S.A. Pageant in 1986 representing Ohio.

Berry got her first acting role on the television series Living Dolls (1989) as Emily Franklin. The series was a spin off of the popular sitcom Who’s the Boss? (1984 – 1992) that starred Tony Danza, Judith Light and Alyssa Milano. In 1991, Berry was cast as Vivian in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, acting alongside Wesley Snipes Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis (loved him in Bubba Ho-Tep!) Samuel L. Jackson, and legendary Anthony Quinn. Thereafter, Berry made guest appearances on television shows and was starring in films regularly.

In 2000, Berry found a home starring as Ororo Munroe / Storm in X-Men, which also starred heavy hitting actors Patrick Steward and Ian McKellen. She starred in three subsequent X-Men franchise films since 2000. Berry joined the Bond family when she donned an orange bikini and recreated Ursula Andress’ famous entrance from Dr. No (1962) forty years later in Die Another Day in which Pierce Brosnan was her James Bond.

Lately, Berry has been busy with the television series Extant (2014 – 2015). In this sci-fi drama thriller, Berry plays returning astronaut Molly Woods. She also supports the show as executive producer and co-executive producer. And, her next movie Kidnap (2016) is currently in post-production.

Peter Hunt

Passed away this day in 2002

Also, today in Bond history, director Peter Hunt passed away in 2002. Read my write up about Hunt on March 11, when I was commemorating his birthday.

Note: The photo of Peter Hunt with George Lazenby (right) was from a blog Vintage Everyday, entry titled "James Bond - Rare and Unpublished Photos from Auditions for On Her Majesty Secret Service." If you have a few minutes, please go visit the site - it's definitely worth it! 

© 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.

American Guest Appears Again…Day 185 of Bond 365

I have been in Los Angeles today, attending Anime Expo and covering the event for Bleeding Cool. Hence, as with any con, the days end up long and at the end of the day, I’m trying to find energy to finish my tasks before calling it a day. As a consequence, today’s entry is quite short. Sorry for that..

Elliott Sullivan

Born this day in 1907

American Guest in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

This is Elliott Sullivan’s second appearance in Bond 365. The first time was on June 2^nd to honor his passing. I was wondering if there was anything new I had learned from the prior post and well, there was an interesting link that I found.

Sullivan starred in a horror film called Vampyres (1974), the story of a lesbian vampire couple that entice passerbys into their manor and hold them captive for the purpose of drinking them dry, after playing with them. Sullivan played ‘American Man’ and Bessie Love played the ‘American Lady.’ I immediately remembered her name and sure enough, Love was an ‘American Guest’ in OHMSS. I thought it was a fun factoid that the pair played a couple in two films for not having been a real life couple as far as I could find.

 Sullivan and Love crossed paths in television twice. They played a couple on a television show, Public Eye in the episode ‘The Beater and the Game’ (1971) as Chrissy and Ed Husack. And, in Mousey (1974), Love played Mrs. Richardson while Sullivan played Harry. It goes to show just how small the world is sometimes.

© 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.

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.

An American Guest – Elliot Sullivan…Day 153 of Bond 365

Elliott in The Man with Two Lives (1942)

Elliott Sullivan

Passed away this day in 1974

American Guest in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Elliott Sullivan was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1907 and at some point before heading west to Hollywood in 1937, Sullivan developed and honed his acting skills on the New York stage. Looking through his filmography of over 120 acting credits, Sullivan was quite often cast as characters that were hardened by crime or by military. Many of his appearances were in film, but he did work on some television shows as well.

According to a New York Times biography, Sullivan was one of many individuals blacklisted from Hollywood during the 1950s and as a result, he moved to England where he worked as a dialogue coach. After a nine-year hiatus (1958 – 1967), Sullivan started making a comeback.  Besides being cast in OHMSS (1969), Sullivan worked alongside Rod Steiger and John Phillip Law in The Sergeant (1968), on Anne of Green Gables (1972) as Matthew Cuthbert, in the sexy Vampyres (1974) as an American Man, and with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in The Great Gatsby (1974).

Sullivan passed away of a fatal heart attack in Los Angeles at the age of 66.

© 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.

Music to My Ears: Hal David and John Leach….Day 145 of Bond 365

Hal David

Born this day in 1921

Lyricist for Casino Royale (1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Moonraker

American lyricist Hal David is best known for his collaboration with Burt Bacharach. As a lyricist, David’s lyrics are immediately recognizable even though his name is not.

During the 1970s, Bacharach and David worked with The Carpenters, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, Tom Jones, and Dionne Warwick resulting in such hits as “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”, “Walk On By”, and “What the World Needs Now Is Love”.

David’s lyrics accompanied three James Bond films: with Bacharach, “The Look of Love” from the 1967 film Casino Royale; with John Barry, “Moonraker” sung by Shirley Bassey; and my personal favorite, “We Have All the Time in the World” with Barry again and sung by amazing Louis Armstrong for the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. 

Another song that I have always enjoyed was from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, sung by B.J. Thomas:

Leach playing the cimbalom

John Leach

Passed away this day in 2014

Musician: Koto for You Only Live Twice

Composer and musician John Leach passed away one year ago today. He composed for film and television – sometimes the most unexpected shows. He was probably known for his expertise on the cimbalom, an instrument rarely used in classical music, yet seemed right a home in the spy films of the 1960s. Its sound resonated the Cold War – haunting, lonely and cold.

In a Telegraph obituary, composer John Barry described Leach’s passion for collecting musical instruments from around the world that he would learn to play. “…he played this big cimbalom and I knew it was right for what I needed…After I’d written the theme I went back to John Leach and he played it, letting all the tones ring out…so it got that very distinctive sound which I wanted for the movie.” The movie Barry was referring to was The Ipcress File (1965) starring Michael Caine. Then, Barry and Leach collaborated again in You Only Live Twice (1967). To accompany Bond’s adventure in Japan, Leach played on the koto, a 13-stringed instrument.

Let’s have a listen to Leach playing the cimbalom for The Ipcress File:

© 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.

Location and Effects: Watts and Field…Day 143 of Bond 365

Robert Watts

Born this day in 1938

Location Manager for You Only Live Twice

Robert Watts has worn many hats in the film industry however his foray into film was with You Only Live Twice in which he was the Location Manager. He worked twice more in that capacity for Billion Dollar Brain (1967) and The Adventurers (1970) before moving to Production Manager and later as Producer. He has worked with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as well as a couple of rather well known franchises: Star Wars (Episode IV, V, VI) and Indiana Jones.

Roy Field

Passed away this day in 2002

Visual Effects for Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Optical Cinematographer for Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun

Roy Field got an excellent start in visual and special effects work with his association with the 1955 film The Quatermass Xperiment before moving onto Eon Productions, where he worked on eight James Bond films! Field worked on the Superman films where he won two awards for his effects, as well as the television films about Horatio Hornblower. He also worked with Jim Henson on a handful of his films, including one of my favorites, Labyrinth (1986). However, he also completed the effects for The Omen (1976), Clash of the Titans (1981) and The Keep (1983), an underrated film and soundtrack in my opinion.

Effects for The Man with the Golden Gun

© 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.

Early Bond Films’ Makeup Artist, Basil Newall…Day 137 of Bond 365

Basil Newall

Born this day in 1924

Make-up Artist for From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever

Newall's artistry on From Russia With Love

Basil Newall worked as make-up artist for six of the Bond films with two actors as James Bond. I consulted my James Bond Archives book from Taschen to confirm if the paint artist for Shirley Eaton was Newall but it was not. I believe that he made up the faces of the actors. Thinking back to each movie, I cannot recall a point in which an actor looked blotchy and uneven. I equate the make-up artist to that of the letterer of a comic, if their work doesn’t glare at you, then they have done their well.

Newall got his start as a make-up artist a few short years after World War II. His first credit was listed for Hamlet (1948) starring Laurence Olivier and Jean Simmons. Newall and Olivier would meet again in the 1981 Clash of the Titans in which Olivier played Zeus. Some of the films that stand out for me that I have seen Newall's work has been on Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Superman (1978), and Excalibur (1981). And, Connery and Newall paired up again in 1974 for the existential, okay crazy weird, journey of Zed (wearing a tankini) in Zardoz.

Newall's artistry for Zardoz

I have to point out one other film that Newall worked on: Venom (1981) that starred Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed. It’s actually not that bad of a film, however what makes it priceless is the commentary from director Piers Haggard, who described the set as a war zone of ongoing name-calling, one-upping tantrums of two grown men – Kinski and Reed! That must have been one of the most challenging films to work on as a make-up artist.

There was nothing I could find on Newall as far as his background and how his interest in makeup artistry was developed. There were a couple of behind-the-scenes photos of Newall at work on the set of Space: 1999 applying makeup to Martin Landau. Unfortunately, those photos were much too small and the text was limited. However, as with so many of the crew, they often remain faceless and nameless, doing their jobs so we as audience-goers can be entertained. I, for one, thank them for their talents and skills!

© 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.