Remembering Director/Producer David C Anderson….Day 216 of Bond 365

David C. Anderson

Passed away this day in 2013

Second Assistant Director for Dr. No

Assistant Director for From Russia with Love

David C Anderson passed away at the age of 72 after a brief illness two years ago. He came from a family of directors and actors. His father is film director Michael Anderson who is probably best known for work on Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Dam Busters (1955), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), and the television miniseries The Martian Chronicles (1980). His brother is actor Michael Anderson Jr. (Logan’s Run, The Sundowners), and step-brother to The Walking Dead actress Laurie Holden and actor/director Christopher Holden (Silent Hill, Felicity).

Anderson got his start with Dr. No (1962) as an uncredited second assistant director. I wonder how exciting that must have been to work alongside Terence Young, Sean Connery and Ursula Andress and perhaps a chat or two with Mr. Ian Fleming at afternoon tea? Anderson returned to the franchise for a second time as an assistant director in From Russia with Love (1963), which paired him with Young and Connery again.

From that start with the Bond films, Anderson continued to direct, but he branched out into producing. He also dabbled directing and producing shows for television. In fact, he worked with Sir Roger Moore on the television series The Saint for five episodes in 1964. Some other memorable work Anderson was associated with include: The Man Who Would Be King (1975) starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine; The Deer Hunter (1978); and The Eagle Has Landed (1976) which included Donald Pleasence. He also had a few surprises: Tales from the Crypt (1996), Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986).

Note: The obituary written by Kimberly Nordyke for The Hollywood Reporter (dated August 16, 2013) mentioned that Anderson had worked on Thunderball (1965), but I did not find a credit for Anderson in his IMDB profile.

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