81-705: Harry Palmer is the name given to the anti-hero protagonist of several films based on spy novels written by Len Deighton , in which the main character is an unnamed intelligence officer. For convenience, the novels are also often referred to as the "Harry Palmer" novels. Michael Caine played Harry Palmer in three films based on published novels featuring this character: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Caine also starred as this character in two other films not directly based on Deighton's novels. The Times called Caine "the epitome of Sixties cool in his first outing as
162-662: A Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in either 1953–as described by a Russian dossier about Bond in From Russia, with Love —or 1954, as described by Bond's obituary in You Only Live Twice . Bond lives in a flat off the King's Road in Chelsea . Continuation authors John Pearson and William Boyd both identify the location as Wellington Square. The former believed the address
243-513: A Rolls-Royce . Sir Fitzroy Maclean was another figure mentioned as a possibility, based on his wartime work behind enemy lines in the Balkans , as was the MI6 double agent Dušan Popov . In 2016, a BBC Radio 4 documentary explored the possibility that the character of Bond was inspired by author and mentor to Fleming, Phyllis Bottome in her 1946 novel, The Lifeline . Distinct similarities between
324-574: A spoof of Harry Palmer. In Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Caine portrays the bespectacled head of a secret espionage unit. In 2022, ITV released a six-part television adaptation of The Ipcress File , starring Joe Cole as Palmer. Anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero ) or anti-heroine is a main character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism , and morality . Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions that most of
405-412: A spoof of Palmer. When developing the 1965 film The Ipcress File , based on Len Deighton's 1962 novel of the same name , the production team needed a name for the previously anonymous protagonist, a rough-edged, petty crook turned spy. They chose "Harry Palmer", because they wanted a mundane name, 'one that means absolutely nothing, a common name', to distance him from Ian Fleming 's James Bond ,
486-416: A "Mark II", a term which was never used. Bond replaces the engine with a Mark IV 4.9 L and commissions a body from Mulliners that was a "rather square convertible two-seater affair." He paints this car battleship grey and upholsters it in black. Later, against the advice of Bentley, he adds an Arnott supercharger. In 1957 Fleming had written to Rolls-Royce's Chairman, Whitney Straight , to get information about
567-481: A 3 in (76 mm) long, thin vertical scar on his right cheek; blue-grey eyes; a "cruel" mouth; short, black hair, a comma of which rests on his forehead. Physically he is described as 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) in height and 76 kg (168 lb) in weight. During Casino Royale , a SMERSH agent carves the Russian Cyrillic letter "Ш" (SH) (for Shpion : "Spy") into the back of Bond's right hand; by
648-537: A Falling Spy in North America). As the protagonist also remains anonymous in these novels, it is still open to debate whether the narrator of these last three novels as the same as in the earlier books. There is conflicting evidence for either view. Despite this, and despite the lead protagonist being unnamed, all eight books have been unofficially called the Harry Palmer novels , based on the protagonist's name given in
729-439: A background closer to my own." From the first novel onwards, the narrator shows knowledge of fine food and drink , painting , classical and 20th-century music, jazz , military history , and Latin . In Horse Under Water , he is described as an expert on world currency. In 1974, the novel Spy Story was published, followed by Yesterday's Spy (1975), and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy (1976) (also known as Catch
810-523: A birth date of 11 November 1920, while a study by Bond scholar John Griswold puts the date at 11 November 1921. According to Griswold, the Fleming novels take place between around May 1951, to February 1964, by which time Bond was aged 42. If the quality of these books, or their degree of veracity, had been any higher, the author would certainly have been prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. It
891-476: A black oxidised Ronson lighter. The cigarettes were the same as Fleming's, who had been buying his at Morland since the 1930s; the three gold bands on the filter were added during the war to mirror his naval Commander's rank. On average, Bond smokes sixty cigarettes a day, although he cut back to around twenty-five a day after his visit to a health farm in Thunderball : Fleming himself smoked up to 80 cigarettes
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#1732851494211972-696: A boy, Fleming devoured the Bulldog Drummond tales of Lieutenant Colonel Herman Cyril McNeile (aka "Sapper") and the Richard Hannay stories of John Buchan . His genius was to repackage these antiquated adventures to fit the fashion of postwar Britain ... In Bond, he created a Bulldog Drummond for the jet age . William Cook in the New Statesman During the Second World War , Ian Fleming had mentioned to friends that he wanted to write
1053-555: A day. Bond occasionally supplements his alcohol consumption with the use of other drugs, for both functional and recreational reasons: Moonraker sees Bond consume a quantity of the amphetamine benzedrine accompanied by champagne, before his bridge game with Sir Hugo Drax (also consuming a carafe of vintage Riga vodka and a vodka martini); he also uses the drug for stimulation on missions, such as swimming across Shark Bay in Live and Let Die , or remaining awake and alert when threatened in
1134-581: A drophead. However, Mulliner's price was too high and Silva eventually had the body built by Henri Chapron, with the work completed in July 1958. In 2008 the coachwork on this car was modified to match the proposed Mulliner conversion more closely. According to academic Jeremy Black , Bond is written as a complex character, even though he was also often the voice of Fleming's prejudices. Throughout Fleming's books, Bond expresses racist , sexist and homophobic attitudes. The output of these prejudices, combined with
1215-473: A good name.' Casino Royale , Chapter 7: Rouge et Noir Bond's drinking habits run throughout the series of books. During the course of On Her Majesty's Secret Service alone, Bond consumes forty-six drinks: Pouilly-Fuissé , Riquewihr and Marsala wines, most of a bottle of Algerian wine, some 1953 Château Mouton Rothschild claret , along with Taittinger and Krug champagnes and Babycham ; for whiskies he consumes three bourbon and waters, half
1296-432: A keen birdwatcher himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he later explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born". When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument ... when I
1377-592: A maid. After being sent down from Eton, Bond was sent to Fettes College in Scotland, his father's school. On his first visit to Paris at the age of 16, Bond lost his virginity , later reminiscing about the event in " From a View to a Kill ". Fleming referenced his own upbringing for his creation, with Bond alluding to briefly attending the University of Geneva (as did Fleming), before being taught to ski in Kitzbühel (as
1458-643: A member of the Special Operations Executive , claimed that the name could have been linked with him. Bond's code number—007—was assigned by Fleming in reference to one of British naval intelligence's key achievements of First World War : the breaking of the German diplomatic code. One of the German documents cracked and read by the British was the Zimmermann Telegram , which was coded 0075, and which
1539-647: A moment. Three measures of Gordon's , one of vodka , half a measure of Kina Lillet . Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel . Got it?' 'Certainly monsieur.' The barman seemed pleased with the idea. 'Gosh, that's certainly a drink,' said Leiter. Bond laughed. 'When I'm ... er ... concentrating,' he explained, 'I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold, and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I think of
1620-408: A neutral figure—an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." After Fleming met the ornithologist and his wife, he described them as "a charming couple who are amused by the whole joke". In the first draft of Casino Royale he decided to use the name James Secretan as Bond's cover name while on missions. In 2018 the family of James Charles Bond, who had served under Fleming as
1701-462: A new car for Bond. Fleming wanted the car to be a cross between a Bentley Continental and a Ford Thunderbird . Straight pointed Fleming to chassis number BC63LC, which was probably the inspiration for the vehicle that ended up in the book. This car had been delivered in May 1954 to a Mr Silva as a Mulliner-bodied coupé. After he rolled the car and wrecked the body, Silva commissioned Mulliner to convert it to
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#17328514942111782-584: A number of consistent character traits which run throughout the books, including an enjoyment of cars, a love of food, drink and sex, and an average intake of sixty custom-made cigarettes a day. Since Fleming's death in 1964, there have been other authorised writers of Bond material, including John Gardner , who wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations; Raymond Benson , who wrote six novels, three novelizations and three short stories; and Anthony Horowitz , who has written three novels. There have also been other authors who wrote one book each: Kingsley Amis (under
1863-404: A pay rise. It is revealed in passing that he is from Burnley , Lancashire, and that he was born in 1922 or 1923. Further novels featuring this character followed, including Horse Under Water (1963), Funeral in Berlin (1964), Billion-Dollar Brain (1966), and An Expensive Place to Die (1967). Again, the lead character is never named, but they appear to be the same character in all of
1944-559: A pint of I.W. Harper bourbon, Jack Daniel's whiskey, two double bourbons on the rocks, two whisky and sodas, two neat scotches and one glass of neat whisky; vodka consumption totalled four vodka and tonics and three double vodka martinis; other spirits included two double brandies with ginger ale, a flask of Enzian schnaps and a double gin: he also washes this down with four steins of German beer. Bond's alcohol intake does not seem to affect his performance. Regarding non-alcoholic drinks, Bond eschews tea, calling it "mud" and blaming it for
2025-732: A process that Northrop Frye called the fictional "center of gravity". This movement indicated a literary change in heroic ethos from feudal aristocrat to urban democrat, as was the shift from epic to ironic narratives. Huckleberry Finn (1884) has been called "the first antihero in the American nursery". Charlotte Mullen of Somerville and Ross 's The Real Charlotte (1894) has been described as an anti-heroine. The antihero became prominent in early 20th century existentialist works such as Franz Kafka 's The Metamorphosis (1915), Jean-Paul Sartre 's Nausea (1938), and Albert Camus 's The Stranger (1942). The protagonist in these works
2106-485: A spy novel. It was not until 1952, however, shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, Ann Charteris , that Fleming began to write his first book, Casino Royale , to distract himself from his forthcoming nuptials. Fleming started writing the novel at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica on 17 February 1952, typing out 2,000 words in the morning, directly from his own experiences and imagination. He finished work on
2187-485: A way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold." Others, such as journalist Ben Macintyre , identify aspects of Fleming's own looks in his description of Bond. General references in the novels describe Bond as having "dark, rather cruel good looks". In the novels (notably From Russia, with Love ), Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: slim build;
2268-450: Is a measure of the disdain in which these fictions are held at the Ministry, that action has not yet—I emphasize the qualification—been taken against the author and publisher of these high-flown and romanticized caricatures of episodes in the career of an outstanding public servant. You Only Live Twice , Chapter 21: Obit: Fleming wrote On Her Majesty's Secret Service while Dr. No
2349-410: Is an indecisive central character who drifts through his life and is marked by boredom , angst , and alienation . The antihero entered American literature in the 1950s and up to the mid-1960s as an alienated figure, unable to communicate. The American antihero of the 1950s and 1960s was typically more proactive than his French counterpart. The British version of the antihero emerged in the works of
2430-420: Is killed on their wedding day by Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld . In the penultimate novel of the series, You Only Live Twice , Bond suffers from amnesia and has a relationship with an Ama diving girl, Kissy Suzuki . As a result of the relationship, Kissy becomes pregnant, although she does not reveal this to Bond before he leaves the island. Fleming biographer Andrew Lycett noted that, "within
2511-477: Is orphaned at age 11 after his parents are killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix . After the death of his parents, Bond went to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in the village of Pett Bottom , where he completed his early education. Later, he briefly attended Eton College at "12 or thereabouts", but was expelled after two halves because of girl trouble with
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2592-456: Is reported to be in his late 30s, whereas the narrator of The IPCRESS File was born in 1922 or 1923 (making him in his 40s), and thus implying that this protagonist is different from that of the earlier novels. Encouraging the unitary concept – that the later novels feature the same narrator – is the 1974 dust jacket to the Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich American edition of Spy Story , in which
2673-531: Is scrambled eggs." Fleming was so keen on scrambled eggs that he used his short story, " 007 in New York ", to provide his favourite recipe for the dish: in the story, this came from the housekeeper of Fleming's friend Ivar Bryce, May, who gave her name to Bond's own housekeeper. Academic Edward Biddulph observed that Fleming fully described seventy meals within the book series and that while a number of these had items in common—such as scrambled eggs and steaks—each meal
2754-469: Is that the antihero is doomed to fail before their adventure begins. The second constitutes the blame of that failure on everyone but themselves. Thirdly, they offer a critique of social morals and reality. To other scholars, an antihero is inherently a hero from a specific point of view, and a villain from another. This idea is further backed by the addition of character alignments , which are commonly displayed by role-playing games. Typically, an antihero
2835-618: Is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels , films , comics and video games . Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections. His final two books— The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)—were published posthumously. The character is a Secret Service officer, code number 007 (pronounced "double-O[ / oʊ / ]-seven"), residing in London but active internationally. Bond
2916-620: Is the focal point of conflict in a story, whether as the protagonist or as the antagonistic force. This is due to the antihero's engagement in the conflict, typically of their own will, rather than a specific calling to serve the greater good. As such, the antihero focuses on their personal motives first and foremost, with everything else secondary. An early antihero is Homer 's Thersites , since he serves to voice criticism, showcasing an anti-establishment stance. The concept has also been identified in classical Greek drama , Roman satire , and Renaissance literature such as Don Quixote and
2997-607: The Daily Express newspaper. There have been twenty-seven Bond films; seven actors have played Bond in the films . The central figure in Ian Fleming's work is the fictional character of James Bond, an intelligence officer in the " Secret Service ". Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander . James Bond is the culmination of an important but much-maligned tradition in English literature. As
3078-479: The Canton de Vaud . The book was the first to be written after the release of Dr. No in cinemas and Connery's depiction of Bond affected Fleming's interpretation of the character, to give Bond a sense of humour that was not present in the previous stories. Bond spends much of his early life abroad, becoming multilingual in German and French because of his father's work as a Vickers armaments company representative. Bond
3159-568: The English poet Lord Byron . Literary Romanticism in the 19th century helped popularize new forms of the antihero, such as the Gothic double . The antihero eventually became an established form of social criticism, a phenomenon often associated with the unnamed protagonist in Fyodor Dostoyevsky 's Notes from Underground . The antihero emerged as a foil to the traditional hero archetype ,
3240-512: The RCA Building at Rockefeller Center (then housing the headquarters of British Security Co-ordination – BSC) in New York City and a Norwegian double agent who had betrayed two British agents; it is suggested by Bond scholar John Griswold that these were part of Bond's wartime service with Special Operations Executive , a British Second World War covert military organisation. Bond is made
3321-596: The picaresque rogue. An anti-hero that fits the more contemporary notion of the term is the lower-caste warrior Karna , in The Mahabharata . Karna is the sixth brother of the Pandavas (symbolising good ), born out of wedlock, and raised by a lower caste charioteer. He is ridiculed by the Pandavas, but accepted as an excellent warrior by the antagonist Duryodhana , this becoming a loyal friend to him, eventually fighting on
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3402-408: The wrong side of the final just war . Karna serves as a critique of the then society, the protagonists, as well as the idea of the war being worthwhile itself – even if Krishna later justifies it properly. The term antihero was first used as early as 1714, emerging in works such as Rameau's Nephew in the 18th century, and is also used more broadly to cover Byronic heroes as well, created by
3483-621: The " angry young men " of the 1950s. The collective protests of Sixties counterculture saw the solitary antihero gradually eclipsed from fictional prominence, though not without subsequent revivals in literary and cinematic form. During the Golden Age of Television from the 2000s and into early 2020s, antiheroes such as Tony Soprano , Gru , Megamind , Jack Bauer , Gregory House , Dexter Morgan , Walter White , Don Draper , Nucky Thompson , Jax Teller , Alicia Florrick , Annalise Keating , Selina Meyer and Kendall Roy became prominent in
3564-521: The Bond films, including production designer Ken Adam , film editor Peter Hunt , and film score composer John Barry . Michael Caine was chosen to play the lead role. In the film version, Harry Palmer is a British Army sergeant forcibly drafted into the security services to work away a prison sentence for black marketeering . He worked first for Army Intelligence , then the Foreign Office . He works for
3645-606: The Dreamy Pines Motor Court in The Spy Who Loved Me . Bond was a car enthusiast and took great interest in his vehicles. In Moonraker , Fleming writes that "Bond had once dabbled on the fringe of the racing world", implying Bond had raced in the past. Over the course of the 14 books, Bond owns three cars, all Bentleys. For the first three books of the series, Bond drives a supercharged 1930 Bentley 4½ Litre , painted battleship grey, that he bought in 1933. During
3726-684: The Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights —were published posthumously. Fleming based his creation on a number of individuals which he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war". Among those types were his brother, Peter , whom Fleming worshipped and who had been involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway and Greece during
3807-681: The UK, and Bond was "the ideal antidote to Britain's postwar austerity, rationing and the looming premonition of lost power". This extravagance was more noteworthy with his contemporary readers for Bond eating exotic, local foods when abroad, at a time when most of his readership did not travel abroad. On 1 April 1958 Fleming wrote to The Manchester Guardian in defence of his work, referring to that paper's review of Dr. No . While referring to Bond's food and wine consumption as "gimmickery", Fleming bemoaned that "it has become an unfortunate trade-mark. I myself abhor Wine-and-Foodmanship. My own favourite food
3888-467: The War he kept the car in storage. He wrecks this car in May 1954 during the events of Moonraker . Bond subsequently purchases a Bentley Mark VI drophead coupé, using the money he won from Hugo Drax at Blades . This car is also painted battleship grey and has dark blue upholstery. Fleming refers to this car as a 1953 model, even though the last year for the mark was 1952. It is possible the 1953 year refers to
3969-430: The audience considers morally correct, their reasons for doing so may not align with the audience's morality. Antihero is a literary term that can be understood as standing in opposition to the traditional hero, i.e., one with high social status, well liked by the general populace. Past the surface, scholars have additional requirements for the antihero. The " Racinian " antihero, is defined by three factors. The first
4050-401: The books. In his 2009 afterword to Horse Under Water , Deighton noted "Now, writing a second book, I found it an advantage to have an anonymous hero. He might be the same man; or maybe not. I was able to make minor changes to him and his background...I realized that...identifying him as a northerner would make demands on my knowledge that I could not sustain. It would be more sensible to give him
4131-553: The brilliant but slightly duplicitous Colonel Ross . Harry Palmer has much in common with Deighton, including passions for military history (Harvey Newbegin complains about his bookshelf contents in Billion Dollar Brain ), cooking , and classical music. After the release of The Ipcress File (1965), Saltzman's production company made Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), both starring Michael Caine. The second Harry Palmer novel Horse Under Water
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#17328514942114212-651: The clubs near London. Moonraker , Chapter 1: Secret paper-work Only once in the series does Fleming have a partner for Bond in his flat, with the arrival of Tiffany Case , following Bond's mission to the US in Diamonds Are Forever . By the start of the following book, From Russia, With Love , Case has left to marry an American. Bond is married only once, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service , to Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo , but their marriage ends tragically when she
4293-439: The coachwork, which in this case would probably make it a Graber -bodied car. In Thunderball , Bond buys the wreck of a Bentley R-Type Continental with a sports saloon body and 4.5 L engine. Produced between 1952 and 1955, Bentley built 208 of these cars, 193 of which had H. J. Mulliner bodies. Bond's car would have been built before July 1954, as the engines fitted after this time were 4.9 L. Fleming curiously calls this car
4374-492: The cover blurb states, "He is back, after five long-years' absence, the insubordinate, decent, bespectacled English spy who fought, fumbled, and survived his outrageous way through the best-selling Horse Under Water , Funeral in Berlin , and the rest of those marvellous, celebrated Len Deighton spy thrillers." Likewise, on the 1976 edition dust jacket to Catch a Falling Spy , the novel features "Deighton's familiar hero, our bespectacled Englishman". A number of minor characters from
4455-530: The downfall of the British Empire . He instead prefers to drink strong coffee. When in England and not on a mission, Bond dines as simply as Fleming did on dishes such as grilled sole, oeufs en cocotte and cold roast beef with potato salad . When on a mission, however, Bond eats more extravagantly. This was partly because in 1953, when Casino Royale was published, many items of food were still rationed in
4536-491: The earlier novels also appear in Spy Story , further connecting the books. The IPCRESS File novel came out just after the release of the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962). When the novel reached best-seller status, Eon Productions film producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli approached Deighton to write the script for the second Bond film, From Russia with Love (1963). Little of Deighton's screenplay
4617-439: The first few pages [of Casino Royale ] Ian had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks", which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it " The Vesper ", after his love interest Vesper Lynd . 'A dry martini,' he said. 'One. In a deep champagne goblet .' 'Oui, monsieur.' 'Just
4698-413: The intelligence officer is anonymous, although at one point he is greeted by someone saying "Hello, Harry"; he later says, "Now my name isn't Harry, but in this business it's hard to remember whether it ever had been." Deighton's character is described as working class , living in a back street flat and seedy hotels, and shopping in supermarkets . He wears glasses , is hindered by bureaucracy , and craves
4779-456: The manuscript in just over a month, completing it on 18 March 1952. Describing the work as his "dreadful oafish opus", Fleming showed it to an ex-girlfriend, Clare Blanchard, who advised him not to publish it at all, but that if he did so, it should be under another name. Despite that advice, Fleming went on to write a total of twelve Bond novels and two short story collections before his death on 12 August 1964. The last two books— The Man with
4860-532: The most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows. This rise of the modern antihero zeitgeist may explain contemporary political outcomes, such as the popularity of non-traditional populists including Donald J. Trump . In his essay published in 2020, Postheroic Heroes - A Contemporary Image (german: Postheroische Helden - Ein Zeitbild) , German sociologist Ulrich Bröckling examines the simultaneity of heroic and post-heroic role models as an opportunity to explore
4941-499: The place of the heroic in contemporary society. In contemporary art, artists such as the French multimedia artist Thomas Liu Le Lann negotiate in his series of Soft Heroes , in which overburdened, modern and tired Anti Heroes seem to have given up on the world around them. James Bond (character) Commander James Bond CMG RNVR is a character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He
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#17328514942115022-713: The production of these films. Evidence of Michael Caine's popular identification as Harry Palmer can be seen in films such as Blue Ice (1992), where he plays an ex-spy named 'Harry', and who has many similarities to Harry Palmer. Caine's Harry Palmer character (with the glasses, the girls, and disregard for authority) was an influence for Mike Myers ’ spy action comedy films Austin Powers . At Myers request, Caine starred in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), with his portrayal of Nigel Powers, father of secret agent Austin Powers ,
5103-562: The protagonist in The Lifeline , Mark Chalmers, and Bond have been highlighted by spy writer Nigel West . Fleming took the name for his character from that of the American ornithologist Dr James Bond , an expert on Caribbean birds based at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies , first published in 1936. Fleming,
5184-422: The pseudonym Robert Markham), Sebastian Faulks , Jeffery Deaver and William Boyd . Additionally, a series of novels based on Bond's youth— Young Bond —was written by Charlie Higson and later Stephen Cole . As a spin-off from the original literary work, Casino Royale , a television adaptation was made, " Casino Royale ", in which Bond was depicted as an American agent. A comic strip series also ran in
5265-431: The secret agent Harry Palmer". A trailer for his second role as Palmer described him as possessing "horn rims, cockney wit and an iron fist". The character's thick horn-rimmed glasses , girls, and disregard for authority was cited by Mike Myers as an influence for Austin Powers ; Caine would later star in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), with his portrayal of Nigel Powers, father of secret agent Austin Powers ,
5346-462: The start of Live and Let Die , Bond has had a skin graft to hide the scars. In Fleming's stories, Bond is in his mid-to-late thirties, but does not age. In Moonraker , he admits to being eight years shy of mandatory retirement age from the 00 section—45—which would mean he was 37 at the time. Fleming did not provide Bond's date of birth, but John Pearson 's fictional biography of Bond, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 , gives him
5427-557: The stereotypical sophisticated, swashbuckling spy. Caine stated at the time of filming that he knew a dull kid at school called "Palmer", with Harry Saltzman saying 'good, and what about a first name?', to which Caine innocently remarked "Harry", not realising his gaffe until seeing Saltzman's stare. Len Deighton introduced the lead character in The IPCRESS File , his first novel, published in November 1962. In that first-person novel,
5508-474: The subsequent film adaptations of The IPCRESS File and its sequels. Evidence for this narrator being different from the earlier novels comes from Deighton himself, who is quoted as saying that the narrator of Spy Story is not the same character as the narrator of The IPCRESS File ; in fact, for most of Spy Story , the narrator is named and addressed as "Patrick Armstrong" – although, as another character says, "We have so many different names." Additionally, he
5589-460: The tales of Bond's actions, led journalist Yuri Zhukov to write an article in 1965 for the Soviet daily newspaper Pravda , describing Bond's values: James Bond lives in a nightmarish world where laws are written at the point of a gun, where coercion and rape are considered valour and murder is a funny trick ... Bond's job is to guard the interests of the property class, and he is no better than
5670-466: The war. Aside from Fleming's brother, a number of others also provided some aspects of Bond's make up, including Conrad O'Brien-ffrench , a skiing spy whom Fleming had met in Kitzbühel in the 1930s, Patrick Dalzel-Job , who served with distinction in 30 AU during the war, and Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale , station head of MI6 in Paris, who wore cuff-links and handmade suits and was chauffeured around Paris in
5751-591: Was Fleming) by Hannes Oberhauser, who is later killed in " Octopussy ". Bond joined the Secret Service in 1938–as described by a Russian dossier about him in From Russia, with Love . He spent two months in 1939 at the Monte Carlo Casino watching a Romanian group cheating before he and the Deuxième Bureau closed them down. Bond's obituary in You Only Live Twice states that he joined "a branch of what
5832-507: Was No. 30, and the latter No. 25. His flat is looked after by an elderly Scottish housekeeper named May . May's name was taken from May Maxwell, the housekeeper of Fleming's close friend, the American Ivar Bryce. In 1955 Bond earned around £2,000 a year net (equivalent to £66,000 in 2023); although when on assignment, he worked on an unlimited expense account. Much of Fleming's own daily routine while working at The Sunday Times
5913-495: Was a composite character who was based on a number of commandos whom Fleming knew during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War , to whom Fleming added his own style and a number of his own tastes. Bond's name may have been appropriated from the American ornithologist of the same name , although it is possible that Fleming took the name from a Welsh agent with whom he served, James C. Bond. Bond has
5994-478: Was actually used on the shoot. Saltzman decided instead to make use of The IPCRESS File in the expectation of beginning a new secret agent film series. Unlike the Bond films , The Ipcress File was designed to have a somewhat different, mostly rather naturalistic style, with hints of the kitchen sink school , film adaptations of which Saltzman had produced. Saltzman, however, also contracted crew members who had worked on
6075-411: Was being filmed in Jamaica and was influenced by the casting of Scottish actor Sean Connery to give Bond Scottish ancestry. It was not until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice , that Fleming gave Bond a more complete sense of family background, using a fictional obituary, purportedly from The Times . The novel reveals Bond’s parents were Andrew Bond, of Glencoe , and Monique Delacroix, of
6156-421: Was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard. — Ian Fleming, The New Yorker , 21 April 1962 On another occasion Fleming said: "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers'. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be
6237-403: Was different from the others. Bond is a heavy smoker, at one point smoking 70 cigarettes a day. Bond has his cigarettes custom-made by Morland of Grosvenor Street, mixing Balkan and Turkish tobacco and having a higher nicotine content than normal; the cigarettes have three gold bands on the filter. Bond carried his cigarettes in a wide gunmetal cigarette case which carried fifty; he also used
6318-656: Was not used. In 1976, Deighton's novel Spy Story was filmed with Michael Petrovitch as 'Patrick Armstrong'; it is unrelated to Saltzman's Harry Palmer films. In the mid-1990s, two further Harry Palmer films were released, this time with original screenplays and with Michael Caine returning to the role. These were Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996). Despite sometimes being titled Len Deighton's Bullet to Beijing and Len Deighton's Midnight in St Petersburg , Deighton did not participate in
6399-471: Was one of the factors that led to the US entering the war. Facially, Bond resembles the composer, singer and actor Hoagy Carmichael . In Casino Royale , Vesper Lynd remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Likewise, in Moonraker , Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in
6480-538: Was subsequently to become the Ministry of Defence " in 1941, where he rose to the rank of principal officer. The same year he became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , ending the war as a commander. At the start of Fleming's first book, Casino Royale , Bond is already a 00 agent, having been given the position after killing two enemy agents, a Japanese spy on the thirty-sixth floor of
6561-405: Was woven into the Bond stories, and he summarised it at the beginning of Moonraker : ... elastic office hours from around ten to six; lunch, generally in the canteen; evenings spent playing cards in the company of a few close friends, or at Crockford's ; or making love, with rather cold passion, to one of three similarly disposed married women; weekends playing golf for high stakes at one of
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