Commander James Bond secret agent, code name 007 in British intelligence with a license to kill, is one of the most popular action figures in fiction and film. James Bond movies are based on the best-selling spy novels (12 novels) of Ian Fleming (1908- 1964). Eight additional screenplays have been created for movies. There have been 25 Bond films since the first Dr. No in 1962. Sean Connery is considered by many as the best Bond, but the role has also been played by Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Pierse Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.
The James Bond character is a fictional British Secret Service special agent licensed to kill created in 1953. A British officer and a gentleman with a sense of duty, honor, loyalty, and justice. He is the ideal 1950s good looking, educated, cultured, confident, athletic, macho, alpha male ‘man’s man.’ In the Fleming novels, Bond loves to drink alcohol and coffee, not tea, eat gourmet food, wear Savile Row tailored suits, smoke cigarettes, romance women, romantic dinners, drive fancy sports cars, gamble at casinos, cards, horseracing, auto racing, golf, skiing, sailing, scuba diving, mountain climbing, sky diving, grouse hunting, and more.
Bond is the ultimate spy – dark, mysterious, dangerous, intelligent, independent, strong, athletic, and resourceful. Extremely smooth, good looking, seductive, and romantic, both a lady’s man and a man’s man. With a traumatic childhood, he is elusive, ambivalent to life and love, sees himself apart from society, aloof, embittered, cynical, and hardened.
Sean Connery
The best Agent 007, Sean Connery (1930 – 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray secret agent James Bond in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Connery originated the role in Dr. No (1962) and as Bond in From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Never Say Never Again (1983).
George Lazenby
Only playing Bond in one film, George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor. Lazenby was cast to replace the original Bond actor, Sean Connery, playing the character in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).
Roger Moore
The longest running bond actor, Roger Moore (1927 – 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray secret agent James Bond. He played the character in seven feature films: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985).
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton, a British actor, gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond. He played in The Living Daylights (1987) and License to Kill (1989).
Pierce Brosnan
Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was the fifth actor to play James Bond. He played in four Bond films, Golden Eye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002).
Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig, an English actor, gained international fame by playing secret agent James Bond for five films: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021).