Commander Wilfred Albert "Biffy" Dunderdale , CMG , MBE (24 December 1899 – 13 November 1990) was a British spy and intelligence officer. It has been suggested that Dunderdale was used by Ian Fleming as a basis for the character of James Bond .
117-486: The James Bond franchise focuses on the titular character , a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming , who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis , Christopher Wood , John Gardner , Raymond Benson , Sebastian Faulks , Jeffery Deaver , William Boyd , and Anthony Horowitz . The latest novel
234-662: 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
351-513: 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
468-650: A comic book adaptation of the screenplay, written by Norman J. Nodel, was published in Britain as part of the Classics Illustrated anthology series. It was later reprinted in the United States by DC Comics as part of its Showcase anthology series, in January 1963. This was the first American comic book appearance of James Bond and is noteworthy for being a relatively rare example of a British comic being reprinted in
585-498: A reality competition show based on the franchise, 007: Road to a Million , was released on Amazon Prime Video . In 1958, the novel Moonraker was adapted for broadcast on South African radio, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond. According to The Independent , "listeners across the Union thrilled to Bob's cultured tones as he defeated evil master criminals in search of world domination". The BBC have adapted five of
702-416: 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
819-481: 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
936-548: A Mind to Kill , was published on 26 May 2022. Charlie Higson's first adult Bond novel, On His Majesty's Secret Service , was published on 4 May 2023 to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and support the National Literacy Trust . The Young Bond series of novels was started by Charlie Higson and, between 2005 and 2009, five novels and one short story were published. The first Young Bond novel, SilverFin
1053-523: 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
1170-476: 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
1287-696: 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
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#17328455070831404-555: 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
1521-581: 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
1638-482: A fairly high-profile American comic. It was also one of the earliest comics to be censored on racial grounds (some skin tones and dialogue were changed for the American market). With the release of the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only , Marvel Comics published a two-issue comic book adaptation of the film. When Octopussy was released in the cinemas in 1983, Marvel published an accompanying comic; Eclipse also produced
1755-487: A game based on then-upcoming film Casino Royale : the game was cancelled because it would not be ready by the film's release in November of that year. With MGM losing revenue from lost licensing fees, the franchise was moved from EA to Activision . Activision subsequently released the 007: Quantum of Solace game on 31 October 2008, based on the film of the same name. A new version of GoldenEye 007 featuring Daniel Craig
1872-473: 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
1989-432: 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
2106-441: A licensed tabletop role-playing game , James Bond 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty's Secret Service , was published by Victory Games (a branch of Avalon Hill ) and designed by Gerard Christopher Klug . It was the most popular espionage role-playing game for its time. In addition to providing materials for players to create original scenarios, the game also offered players the opportunity to have adventures modelled after many of
2223-480: 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
2340-592: 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
2457-643: 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
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#17328455070832574-647: 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
2691-452: A more masculine look. The first strip, Casino Royale was published from 7 July 1958 to 13 December 1958 and was written by Anthony Hern and illustrated by John McLusky. Most of the Bond novels and short stories have since been adapted for illustration, as well as Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun ; the works were written by Henry Gammidge or Jim Lawrence (except for the adaptation of Dr. No which
2808-504: A neutral figure—an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both American singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself and 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
2925-408: 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
3042-462: 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
3159-564: A number of different Aston Martins for filming and publicity, one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in the US for $ 2.1 million to an unnamed European collector. In 2010, another DB5 used in Goldfinger was sold at auction for $ 4.6m million (£2.6 million). James Bond possesses a diverse set of skills that contribute to his effectiveness as a secret agent: Fleming's novels and early screen adaptations presented minimal equipment such as
3276-440: A number of such title characters (e.g. Richard Hannay and Bulldog Drummond ). The documentary included James Bond in dramatised scenes from Goldfinger —notably featuring 007 being threatened with the novel's circular saw, rather than the film's laser beam—and Diamonds Are Forever . In 1991, a spin-off animated series, James Bond Jr. , was produced with Corey Burton in the role of Bond's nephew, James Bond Jr. In 2022,
3393-588: A one-hour show in 1954 as part of the CBS series Climax! . The Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including their soundtracks , with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and three wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch . The films are also noted for Bond's relationships with various women, who are popularly referred to as " Bond girls ". Ian Fleming created
3510-416: A one-hour television adventure, "Casino Royale" , as part of its Climax! series. The episode aired live on 21 October 1954 and starred Barry Nelson as "Card Sense" James Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. The novel was adapted for American audiences to show Bond as an American agent working for "Combined Intelligence", while the character Felix Leiter —American in the novel—became British onscreen and
3627-449: A one-off comic for Licence to Kill , although Timothy Dalton refused to allow his likeness to be used. New Bond stories were also drawn up and published from 1989 onwards through Marvel, Eclipse Comics , Dark Horse Comics and Dynamite Entertainment . Eon Productions, the company of Canadian Harry Saltzman and American Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli , released the first cinema adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel, Dr. No (1962), based on
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3744-559: 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
3861-461: A share of takings from syndication. After initial reluctance, Fleming, who felt the strips would lack the quality of his writing, agreed. To aid the Daily Express in illustrating Bond, Fleming commissioned an artist to create a sketch of how he believed James Bond looked. The illustrator, John McLusky , however, felt that Fleming's 007 looked too "outdated" and "pre-war" and changed Bond to give him
3978-485: 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
4095-563: A very nice lady at that!" Boothroyd suggested that Bond should swap his Beretta for a 7.65mm Walther PPK and this exchange of arms made it to Dr. No . Boothroyd also gave Fleming advice on the Berns-Martin triple draw shoulder holster and a number of the weapons used by SMERSH and other villains. In thanks, Fleming gave the MI6 Armourer in his novels the name Major Boothroyd and, in Dr. No , M ,
4212-485: 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;
4329-441: Is With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond , and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character , Moneypenny . The character—also known by the code number 007 (pronounced "double-oh-seven")—has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strips, video games and film. The films constitute one of
4446-444: Is "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in 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." Fleming endowed Bond with many of his own traits, including sharing the same golf handicap, the taste for scrambled eggs, and using the same brand of toiletries. Bond's tastes are also often taken from Fleming's own as
4563-450: 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
4680-420: 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
4797-477: 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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4914-531: 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
5031-487: Is the sixth actor to play Bond in the Eon series. There have also been two independent Bond film productions: Casino Royale (a 1967 spoof starring David Niven ) and Never Say Never Again (a 1983 remake of an earlier Eon-produced film, 1965's Thunderball , both starring Connery). The James Bond franchise is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time . Casino Royale has also been adapted for television, as
5148-607: 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
5265-405: The 85th Academy Awards , Smith won at the 88th Academy Awards , and Eilish won at the 94th Academy Awards . For the non-Eon produced Casino Royale , Burt Bacharach 's score included " The Look of Love " (sung by Dusty Springfield ), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1983, the first Bond video game, developed and published by Parker Brothers , was released for
5382-621: The Atari 2600 , Atari 5200 , Atari 8-bit computers , Commodore 64 , and ColecoVision . Since then, there have been numerous video games either based on the films or using original storylines. In 1997, the first-person shooter video game GoldenEye 007 was developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 , based on GoldenEye . The game received highly positive reviews, won the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for UK Developer of
5499-653: The BMW Z3 , BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8 . He has, however, also needed to drive a number of other vehicles, ranging from a Citroën 2CV to a Routemaster Bus, amongst others. Bond's most famous car is the silver grey Aston Martin DB5 , first seen in Goldfinger ; it later featured in Thunderball , GoldenEye , Tomorrow Never Dies , Casino Royale , Skyfall and Spectre . The films have used
5616-479: 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
5733-737: The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service , introduces him to Bond as "the greatest small-arms expert in the world". Bond also used a variety of rifles , including the Savage Model 99 in "For Your Eyes Only" and a Winchester .308 target rifle in "The Living Daylights". Other handguns used by Bond in the Fleming books included the Colt Detective Special and a long-barrelled Colt .45 Army Special . The first Bond film, Dr. No , saw M ordering Bond to leave his Beretta behind and take up
5850-506: The Eon Productions Bond films appeared in print, James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me and James Bond and Moonraker , both written by screenwriter Christopher Wood , the series of novels did not continue until the 1980s. In 1981, the thriller writer John Gardner picked up the series with Licence Renewed . Gardner went on to write sixteen Bond books in total; two of the books he wrote were novelisations of Eon Productions films of
5967-506: The Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Several of the songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song , including Paul McCartney 's " Live and Let Die ", Carly Simon 's " Nobody Does It Better ", Sheena Easton 's " For Your Eyes Only ", Adele 's " Skyfall ", Sam Smith 's " Writing's on the Wall ", and Billie Eilish 's " No Time to Die ". Adele won the award at
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#17328455070836084-500: The PlayStation on 21 November 2000. In 2003, the company released James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing , which included the likenesses and voices of Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe , Heidi Klum , Judi Dench and John Cleese , amongst others. In November 2005, Electronic Arts released a video game adaptation of 007: From Russia with Love , which involved Sean Connery's image and voice-over for Bond. In 2006, Electronic Arts announced
6201-512: 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
6318-451: 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 a number of consistent character traits which run throughout the books, including an enjoyment of cars,
6435-403: The eponymous 1958 novel and featuring Sean Connery as 007 . Connery starred in a further four films before leaving the role after You Only Live Twice (1967), which was taken up by George Lazenby for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Lazenby left the role after just one appearance and Connery was brought back for his last Eon-produced film Diamonds Are Forever . Roger Moore
6552-522: The pseudonym Kate Westbrook, who is depicted as the book's "editor". The first instalment of the trilogy, subtitled Guardian Angel , was released on 10 October 2005 in the UK. A second volume, subtitled Secret Servant was released on 2 November 2006 in the UK, published by John Murray . A third volume, subtitled Final Fling was released on 1 May 2008. In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $ 1,000 ($ 11,346 in 2023 dollars) to adapt his novel Casino Royale into
6669-437: The 1950s two weeks after the events of Goldfinger , it contains material written, but previously unreleased, by Fleming. Trigger Mortis was released on 8 September 2015. Horowitz's second Bond novel, Forever and a Day , tells the origin story of Bond as a 00 agent prior to the events of Casino Royale . The novel, also based on unpublished material from Fleming, was released on 31 May 2018. Horowitz's third Bond novel, With
6786-502: The American ornithologist James Bond , a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies . Fleming, 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". He further explained that: When I wrote
6903-606: 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
7020-481: The Eon Productions film adaptations, albeit with modifications to provide challenges by preventing players from slavishly imitating Bond's actions in the stories. For the first five novels, Fleming armed Bond with a Beretta 418 until he received a letter from a thirty-one-year-old Bond enthusiast and gun expert, Geoffrey Boothroyd , criticising Fleming's choice of firearm for Bond, calling it "a lady's gun—and not
7137-504: The Fleming novels for broadcast: in 1990 You Only Live Twice was adapted into a 90-minute radio play for BBC Radio 4 with Michael Jayston playing James Bond. The production was repeated a number of times between 2008 and 2011. On 24 May 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast an adaptation of Dr. No . The actor Toby Stephens , who played Bond villain Gustav Graves in the Eon Productions version of Die Another Day , played Bond, while Dr. No
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#17328455070837254-583: 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 was a composite character who was based on a number of commandos whom Fleming knew during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division during
7371-615: 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
7488-549: 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 , who had been involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway and Greece during 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 , Patrick Dalzel-Job , Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale and Duško Popov . The name James Bond came from that of
7605-636: 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
7722-415: The US. American writer Jeffery Deaver was then commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to produce Carte Blanche , which was published on 26 May 2011. The book turned Bond into a post-9/11 agent, independent of MI5 or MI6. On 26 September 2013, Solo by William Boyd , set in 1969, was published. In October 2014, it was announced that Anthony Horowitz was to write a Bond continuation novel. Set in
7839-602: The Walther PPK, which Bond used in eighteen films. In Tomorrow Never Dies and the two subsequent films, Bond's main weapon was the Walther P99 semi-automatic pistol . In the early Bond stories Fleming gave Bond a battleship-grey Bentley 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 Litre with an Amherst Villiers supercharger . After Bond's car was written off by Hugo Drax in Moonraker , Fleming gave Bond a Mark II Continental Bentley, which he used in
7956-467: 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
8073-482: The Year in 1998, and sold over eight million copies worldwide, grossing $ 250 million, making it the third- best-selling Nintendo 64 game . It is frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time . In 1999, Electronic Arts acquired the licence and released Tomorrow Never Dies on 16 December 1999. In October 2000, they released The World Is Not Enough for the Nintendo 64 followed by 007 Racing for
8190-518: The actual authorship of the music has been a matter of controversy for many years. In 2001, Norman won £30,000 in libel damages from The Sunday Times newspaper, which suggested that Barry was entirely responsible for the composition. The theme, as written by Norman and arranged by Barry, was described by another Bond film composer, David Arnold , as "bebop-swing vibe coupled with that vicious, dark, distorted electric guitar, definitely an instrument of rock 'n' roll ... it represented everything about
8307-431: The booby-trapped attaché case in From Russia, with Love , although this situation changed dramatically with the films. However, the effects of the two Eon-produced Bond films Dr. No and From Russia with Love had an effect on the novel The Man with the Golden Gun , through the increased number of devices used in Fleming's final story. For the film adaptations of Bond, the pre-mission briefing by Q Branch became one of
8424-497: The canton of Vaud , Switzerland. 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 Bond a birth date on 11 November 1920, while a study by John Griswold puts the date at 11 November 1921. Whilst serving in the Naval Intelligence Division, Fleming had planned to become an author and had told a friend, "I am going to write
8541-548: The character you would want: It was cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, suggestive, sexy, unstoppable. And he did it in two minutes." Barry composed the scores for eleven Bond films and had an uncredited contribution to Dr. No with his arrangement of the Bond Theme. A Bond film staple are the theme songs heard during their title sequences sung by well-known popular singers. Shirley Bassey performed three Bond theme songs, with her 1964 song " Goldfinger " inducted into
8658-606: 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
8775-439: 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
8892-479: The company had purchased the rights to Never Say Never Again from Taliafilm. As of 2015, Eon holds the full adaptation rights to all of Fleming's Bond novels . " cocky, swaggering, confident, dark, dangerous, suggestive, sexy, unstoppable." — David Arnold The " James Bond Theme " was written by Monty Norman and was first orchestrated by the John Barry Orchestra for 1962's Dr. No , although
9009-614: The cover name Dolinoff . His work involved liaison with French intelligence (1926–40) and Polish intelligence (1940–45 in connection with the decrypting of German Enigma-enciphered messages ; and to Constantinople, where he said that his first job for MI6 was to buy foreign members of the Sultan's harem and arrange for them to be repatriated by the Royal Navy. Later moving to New York, he died there in November 1990. According to notes compiled by Stephen Dorril for his 1989 book, A Who's Who of
9126-530: 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
9243-481: The fictional character of James Bond as the central figure for his works. Bond is an intelligence officer in the Secret Intelligence Service , commonly known as MI6. Bond is known by his code number, 007, and was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander . Fleming based his fictional creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division and 30 Assault Unit during
9360-439: 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
9477-531: 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 was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard. 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
9594-624: The increased use of technology led to an accusation that Bond was over-reliant on equipment, particularly in the later films. "If it hadn't been for Q Branch, you'd have been dead long ago!" James Bond (literary character) Commander James Bond CMG RNVR is a character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He 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
9711-466: The last two books— The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights —published posthumously. All the books were published in the UK through Jonathan Cape. After Fleming's death, a continuation novel, Colonel Sun , was written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham ) and published in 1968. Amis had already written a literary study of Fleming's Bond novels in his 1965 work The James Bond Dossier . Although novelisations of two of
9828-504: The longest continually running film series and have grossed over US$ 7.04 billion in total at the box office, making James Bond the fifth-highest-grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No , starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2021, there have been twenty-five films in the Eon Productions series . The most recent Bond film, No Time to Die (2021), stars Daniel Craig in his fifth portrayal of Bond; he
9945-449: The manuscript for Casino Royale , Fleming showed it to his friend (and later editor) William Plomer to read. Plomer liked it and submitted it to the publishers, Jonathan Cape , who did not like it as much. Cape finally published it in 1953 on the recommendation of Fleming's older brother Peter , an established travel writer. Between 1953 and 1966, two years after his death, twelve novels and two short-story collections were published, with
10062-456: 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
10179-469: The motifs that ran through the series. Dr. No provided no spy-related gadgets, but a Geiger counter was used; industrial designer Andy Davey observed that the first ever onscreen spy-gadget was the attaché case shown in From Russia with Love , which he described as "a classic 007 product". The gadgets assumed a higher profile in the 1964 film Goldfinger . The film's success encouraged further espionage equipment from Q Branch to be supplied to Bond, although
10296-508: 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,
10413-422: 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
10530-645: The remaining books of the series. During Goldfinger , Bond was issued an Aston Martin DB Mark III with a homing device, which he used to track Goldfinger across France. Bond returned to his Bentley for the subsequent novels. The Bond of the films has driven a number of cars, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage , during the 1980s, the V12 Vanquish and DBS during the 2000s, as well as the Lotus Esprit ;
10647-690: The role of Bond. The result of a court case in the High Court in London in 1963 allowed Kevin McClory to produce a remake of Thunderball titled Never Say Never Again in 1983. The film, produced by Jack Schwartzman 's Taliafilm production company and starring Sean Connery as Bond, was not part of the Eon series of Bond films. In 1997, the Sony Corporation acquired all or some of McClory's rights in an undisclosed deal, which were then subsequently acquired by MGM , whilst on 4 December 1997, MGM announced that
10764-455: The same name: Licence to Kill and GoldenEye . Gardner moved the Bond series into the 1980s, although he retained the ages of the characters as they were when Fleming had left them. In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health. In 1996, the American author Raymond Benson became the author of the Bond novels. Benson had previously been the author of The James Bond Bedside Companion , first published in 1984. By
10881-417: The spy story to end all spy stories." On 17 February 1952, he began writing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale , at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, where he wrote all his Bond novels during the months of January and February each year. He started the story shortly before his wedding to his pregnant girlfriend, Ann Charteris, in order to distract himself from his forthcoming nuptials. After completing
10998-462: 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
11115-460: 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
11232-486: The time he moved on to other, non-Bond related projects in 2002, Benson had written six Bond novels, three novelisations and three short stories. After a gap of six years, Sebastian Faulks was commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to write a new Bond novel, which was released on 28 May 2008, the 100th anniversary of Fleming's birth. The book—titled Devil May Care —was published in the UK by Penguin Books and by Doubleday in
11349-466: 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
11466-623: The youths Hitler boasted he would bring up like wild beasts to be able to kill without thinking. Wilfred Dunderdale Wilfred Dunderdale was born in Odessa , son of Richard Albert Dunderdale, a shipping magnate. Dunderdale served in the Royal Navy (RNVR) during the First World War , despite his thick accent he had grown up speaking Russian and English. During the Russian Civil War he
11583-591: 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
11700-507: 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
11817-466: Was also adapted and released as a graphic novel on 2 October 2008 by Puffin Books. In October 2013 Ian Fleming Publications announced that Stephen Cole would continue the series, with the first edition scheduled to be released in Autumn 2014. The Moneypenny Diaries are a trilogy of novels chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny , M 's personal secretary. The novels are written by Samantha Weinberg under
11934-749: Was an interpreter with White Russian naval commanders in the Black Sea, once having to sit discreetly outside for a White Russian general "chatting up" the general's mistress until he was no longer required! (neither spoke the other's language). He went to Yekaterinburg to investigate the murder of the Imperial family. He was nicknamed Biffy for his pugilistic skills. He worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) between 1921 and 1959, and moved to Paris, "a hotbed of White Russian intrigue" , and becoming Head of Station by 1937 with
12051-486: Was appointed to the role of 007 for Live and Let Die (1973). He played Bond a further six times over twelve years, before being replaced by Timothy Dalton for two films. After a six-year hiatus, during which a legal wrangle threatened Eon's productions of the Bond films, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was cast as Bond in GoldenEye (1995); he remained in the role for a total of four films through 2002. In 2006, Daniel Craig
12168-411: 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
12285-421: 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
12402-403: 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
12519-459: Was dramatised for Radio 4; it featured a full cast again starring Stephens as Bond. In May 2014 Stephens again played Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service , with Alfred Molina as Blofeld, and Joanna Lumley (who appeared in the 1969 film adaptation) as Irma Bunt. In 1957, the Daily Express approached Ian Fleming to adapt his stories into comic strips, offering him £1,500 per novel and
12636-411: Was given the role for Casino Royale (2006), which rebooted the series. Craig appeared for a total of five films. The series has grossed well over $ 7 billion to date, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film series . In 1967, Casino Royale was adapted into a parody Bond film starring David Niven as Sir James Bond and Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd. Niven had been Fleming's preference for
12753-428: Was his behaviour, with Bond's love of golf and gambling mirroring Fleming's own. Fleming used his experiences of his career in espionage and all other aspects of his life as inspiration when writing, including using names of school friends, acquaintances, relatives and lovers throughout his books. It was not until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice , that Fleming gave Bond a sense of family background. The book
12870-421: 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
12987-474: Was played by David Suchet . Following its success, a second story was adapted and on 3 April 2010 BBC Radio 4 broadcast Goldfinger with Stephens again playing Bond. Sir Ian McKellen was Goldfinger and Stephens' Die Another Day co-star Rosamund Pike played Pussy Galore. The play was adapted from Fleming's novel by Archie Scottney and was directed by Martin Jarvis . In 2012, the novel From Russia, with Love
13104-617: Was released for the Wii and a handheld version for the Nintendo DS in November 2010. A year later a new version was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 under the title GoldenEye 007: Reloaded . In October 2012 007 Legends was released, which featured one mission from each of the Bond actors of the Eon Productions' series. In November 2020, IO Interactive announced Project 007 , an original James Bond video game, working closely with licensors MGM and Eon Productions . From 1983 to 1987,
13221-519: Was renamed "Clarence Leiter". In 1964 Roger Moore appeared as "James Bond" in an extended comedy sketch opposite Millicent Martin in her ATV TV series Mainly Millicent , which also makes reference to "007". It was written by Dick Hills and Sid Green . Undiscovered for several years, it reappeared as an extra in the DVD and Blu-ray release of Live and Let Die . In 1973, a BBC documentary Omnibus : The British Hero featured Christopher Cazenove playing
13338-538: 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
13455-512: Was the first to be written after the release of Dr. No in cinemas, and Sean Connery 's depiction of Bond affected Fleming's interpretation of the character, henceforth giving Bond both a dry sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories. In a fictional obituary, purportedly published in The Times , Bond's parents were given as Andrew Bond, from the village of Glencoe , Scotland , and Monique Delacroix, from
13572-405: 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
13689-538: Was written by future Modesty Blaise creator Peter O'Donnell ) with Yaroslav Horak replacing McClusky as artist in 1966. After the Fleming and Amis material had been adapted, original stories were produced, continuing in the Daily Express and Sunday Express until May 1977. Several comic book adaptations of the James Bond films have been published through the years: at the time of Dr. No 's release in October 1962,
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