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photo of Peter Hunt with George Lazenby (right) was from a blog Vintage Everyday, entry titled "James Bond - Rare and Unpublished Photos from Auditions for On Her Majesty Secret Service."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.

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.

Happy Birthday Mr. Brosnan….Day 136 of Bond 365

I was out and about today and after enjoying Stuart Gibbs’ Spy School, I had to pick up the second and third books, Spy Camp and Evil Spy School. Ben Ripley returns for both books. And, I had the good fortune that the bookstore actually stocked the British version of GQ, which features an in depth article and cover of Austrian Christoph Waltz. I thought I was going to have to search eBay for a copy and now I don’t have to – yay! Anyway, reviews coming soon!

Pierce Brendan Brosnan

Born this day in 1953

James Bond in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (video game)

His likeness for James Bond 007: Nightfire (video game)

It’s birthday wishes to Mr. Pierce Brosnan who donned James Bond tuxedo for four films that spanned across two decades. If things had worked out between the producers at Eon Productions and the NBC television show Remington Steele, Brosnan’s reign as the suave British secret agent would have started with The Living Daylights (1987) when Timothy Dalton was originally not available. It would have been interesting to see what Brosnan brought to the table and the tone he would have set with those storylines. I don’t think we would have had the darkness of Dalton, but I believe that Brosnan would have tempered the over-the-top humor that defined Sir Roger Moore’s era.

We could speculate all day, but in the end, Brosnan came to Bond with GoldenEye (1995), which was his best outing. The actors collected for the film coupled with the story, worked well, however, I don’t think there was chemistry between Brosnan and his Bond Girls in the film. I actually turn to Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and his on-screen chemistry with Michelle Yeoh, as Wai Lin, as the best Bond/Bond Girl relationship of the four films. Personally, I thought the storyline for Die Another Day derailed the franchise and unfortunately, Brosnan as Bond.

 Looking at the rest of Brosnan’s filmography, I realized that I had not seen very many of his movies. And, I never watched Remington Steele. I did see November Man and it was an entertaining film. It was great seeing Brosnan back in action, however I felt Olga Kurylenko’s ability to do action was missing, which she was capable of holding her own in Quantum of Solace (2008). Instead, she was relegated to portray an inept, damaged woman, who looks hot in a little party dress and wig. Of the films I haven’t seen, Seraphim Falls (2006) the western starring Brosnan and Liam Neeson looked intriguing, because I like westerns and I’m fascinated by Civil War storylines.

Anyway, there are several projects in the hopper for Brosnan for the rest of year, so there will be many opportunities to see our former James Bond at our local cinema house in the coming months.

Bond Trivia: Goldfinger (1964) was the first Bond film that Brosnan saw in the cinema. This film, along with Lawrence of Arabia (1962), greatly influenced him and inspired him to pursue acting.

© 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.

Did You Know That Toby Stephens Has Played James Bond? … Day 111 of Bond 365

Toby Stephens, more than a Bond villain....

Toby Stephens

Born this day in 1969

Gustav Graves in Die Another Day

Gustav Graves (voice) in 007 Legends

Unlike several other Bond alums I have come across so far, Toby Stephens attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and got his start in acting by working as a stagehand at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Orlando (1992) was Stephen’s first screen appearance and he has gone on to act on television and on the big screen. In addition to his screen performances, he spends quite a bit of time in performing theatre productions.

....he's James Bond on radio

Besides starring as Gustav Graves in the Bond film Die Another Day as well as voicing his character in the video game 007 Legends, Stephens has been involved in some other Bond related events. For instance, during the centenary celebration of Ian Fleming’s birthday, Stephens performed as James Bond in the BBC Radio 4 production of Dr. No. This was not the first radio dramatization; in 1956, Bob Holness lent his voice as James Bond for Moonraker. Later in 2008, Stephens was part the benefit “The Story of James Bond, A Tribute to Ian Fleming” organized by Fleming’s niece, Lucy Fleming and held at the London Palladium. Several stars read from the Fleming novels and Stephens read the James Bond parts.

There were a couple of parts worth mentioning from Stephens filmography on IMDB. Stephens starred as Kim Philby in the mini-series Cambridge Spies (2003), probably one of the biggest spy/espionage events in 20^th century England. And interestingly, he starred in Noel Coward’s Private Lives as Elyot Chase in 2014. I wonder if any references were made to Ian Fleming, since Coward and Fleming were friends and neighbors on the tropical island of Jamaica.

Post Script: I happened across this article in Radio Times from 2014 about Stephens reprising his role as James Bond for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This is Stephens fourth outing portraying Bond on radio. Pretty 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.

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.

Happy Birthday to Gorss, Swor and Lee!....Day 81 of Bond 365

Sol Gorss, actor and stuntman

Sol Gorss

Born this day in 1908

Stunts for From Russia With Love

I about fell out of my chair when I looked at Sol Gorss’ IMDB filmography of 252 actor credits and 88 as a stuntman!

Gorss started acting in 1931 as a policeman in The Front Page. He started doing stunts a few years later in the 1936 Bengal Tiger. He had roles that overlapped with his stunts and worked on television and in film. Gorss did his last stunt work in the 1966’s Murderers’ Row and the following year, his last acting role in Red Tomahawk as a Townman/Roulette Player, which came out after his death.

Ken Swor

Born this day in 1935

Assistant Director for Diamonds Are Forever

Reading through his IMDB profile, Ken Swor sounded liked a real down to earth type of person. He played sports in school and eventually earned a teaching degree, so he could teach and coach.

In the late 1960s, he took a director’s guild test and scored in the up 10%. Scoring as high as he did led him to train as an assistant director and in 1971, one of his first outings as an Assistant Director was on Diamonds Are Forever – pretty darn amazing! He worked on some popular television series such as The Streets of San Francisco and Barnaby Jones.

In the 1970s, he added Production Manager to his list of talents. As a production manager, he apparently worked exclusively on television series and movies. Again, he worked on some very popular projects in their day: The Streets of San Francisco, Police Story, Fame, and The Twilight Zone.

His last credit was in 1995 and in 2004 he passed away from heart failure at the age of 69.

Will Yun Lee

Will Yun Lee

Born this day in 1971

Colonel Moon in Die Another Day

Will Yun Lee was born in Virginia to Korean parents and as a child, his family moved around a lot, leading Lee to have both tough (Bronx) and tropical (Hawaii) locales as backdrops during his childhood years. Eventually, he and his father, a Korean Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster, settled in San Francisco. Lee spent time in his father studio and learned Tae Kwon Do. 

Lee attended University of California Berkeley and studied Political Science, however it was also a time in which two things impacted his life. First, Lee began worked with high-risk teens, youth he could identify with from his years when he lived in the Bronx. His commitment to youth has continued to be an important role for him.

Second, Lee became interested in acting and landed a role on the television show Nash Bridges starring Don Johnson and Cheech Marin. It led him to relocate to Los Angeles and pursue a career in acting. Looking at his IMDB filmography, Lee has been working consistently since 1997 with his first role. In addition, he has branched into voice over work in video games such as the Sleeping Dogs franchise. And recently, he has been working on Hawaii Five-O, Strike Back and True Blood.

© 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.

More Than a Pretty Face...Day 27 of Bond 365

John Hopkins

Born this day in 1931

Screenplay for Thunderball

British writer John Hopkins had a career writing for television, stage and film that spanned almost 40 years. He shared screenplay credit with Richard Maibaum, while Jack Whittingham had original screenplay credit. I’m curious what if any issues arose from the tension that might have surrounded the story given the suit between Kevin McClory and Ian Fleming. According to Wikipedia, Hopkins was involved with “finishing touches” to the script.

Happy Birthday English Rose, Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike

Born this day in 1979

Miranda Frost in Die Another Day

“When you’re dressed up like Miranda Frost, people assume you have a similar character, but I was 21 and quaking inside,” according to an IMDB quote by Rosamund Pike on her role in Die Another Day. It was her first film role and I think this English rose was amazing as the icy double agent. She may have been quaking beneath her cold character exterior, but that is what a great actor is all about. She won Empire’s Award for Best Debut for the Bond Girl role. And while it is not surprising that she has gotten an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (Gone Girl), I’m shocked it has taken so long.

Pike is an only child and well traveled across Europe. Hence, she is fluent in French and German. She attended Oxford University’s Wadham College and graduated Magna Cum Laude in English Literature. She can even play the piano and cello. An all around renaissance woman! Oh, and she’s on the cover of Vanity Fair this month.

I have made a point to watch her films, however looking at her filmography, I have some catching up to do. Here’s a recap of what I have seen from her list. The Libertine (2004) in which she played Elizabeth Malet and honestly, I did not enjoy this film and intentionally remember very little of it. However, Pike moved onto director Joe Wright’s vision of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice (2005). Pike played eldest daughter Jane Bennet – I’m a chick and yes, I loved this movie. The same year, she had a meaty science role as Samantha Grimm in Doom. She had flirtatious banter with Duke (Razaaq Adoti), which was leading into a positive portrayal of an interracial relationship, well, if Duke had not become monster fodder. Jumping ahead to 2012, she was the smart district attorney Helen (and five months pregnant!) in Jack Reacher, starring opposite Tom Cruise. Another solid performance and even Cruise was alright. Yeah, so kind of a short list – I better get busy!

Stuntman extraordinaire, Martin Grace

Martin Grace

Passed away this day in 2010

Stunts in You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View To a Kill

Martin Grace was a prolific stuntman and action sequence choreographer from Ireland. Grace was active in sports that included boxing and weight lifting. He studied acting and joined a stunt agency. His early stunt work was for Cadbury’s Milk Tray commercials – I never chocolate could solicit such dangerous endeavors! – capitalized on Grace completing jumps. His first stunt movie credit was on the set of You Only Live Twice and his last was in 2007 for The Number 23.

During his career, he made a lot of stars look great, either as their stunt double or as part of the stunt crew supporting the star: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Richard Kiel, Oliver Reed, Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones franchise and other Ford films), and many others. In all, he had 73 credits to his name.

© 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.