60 Fun Facts About Hard James Bond

Ian Fleming worked in Naval Intelligence during World War II under which codename?

He was personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey and worked out of Room 39 at the Admiralty.

Fleming took the name James Bond from an American expert on what?

Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, owned Bond's field guide Birds of the West Indies and called it 'the dullest name I ever heard'.

Fleming helped plan which wartime operation, whose name he later reused for his Jamaican estate?

He was also involved with two intelligence commando units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.

Fleming's Bond novels number twelve, plus how many short-story collections?

Casino Royale was the first novel, published in 1953, and Fleming died in 1964 aged 56.

Which children's book did Ian Fleming write, published in 1964?

The 1968 film version was produced by Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl.

Who played Bond in the 1954 CBS television adaptation of Fleming's first novel?

He was an American 'Jimmy Bond' in an episode of the anthology series Climax!, for which CBS paid Fleming $1,000.

Which firearms expert advised Fleming to switch Bond from a Beretta to the Walther PPK?

Fleming made the change in Dr. No (1958) and named the armourer 'Major Boothroyd' in thanks.

Who directed Dr. No, the first Eon Bond film?

Released by United Artists in October 1962, it was made on a low budget with Ken Adam creating the series' visual style.

Whose Thunderball legal battle with Fleming led to the non-Eon film Never Say Never Again?

The screenplay was first called Longitude 78 West; Fleming novelised it as Thunderball in 1961 without crediting his collaborators.

Which screenwriter, better known for children's books, wrote You Only Live Twice?

It was only loosely based on Fleming's 1964 novel and features Blofeld's volcano lair.

Ken Adam's volcano lair set for You Only Live Twice cost about $1 million and was, at the time, what?

The whole film's budget was $10.3 million; Adam skipped From Russia with Love to build Kubrick's war room for Dr. Strangelove.

Which actor was first cast as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice before Donald Pleasence replaced him?

After five days the director and Broccoli decided he was not menacing enough, blaming illness for the recast.

Nancy Sinatra sang the You Only Live Twice theme after which relative of hers passed on it?

She was so nervous she said she sometimes sounded like Minnie Mouse.

George Lazenby announced he would only play Bond once on the advice of whom?

A model with no prior acting credits, he quit before On Her Majesty's Secret Service was even released in December 1969.

Who sang 'We Have All the Time in the World' for On Her Majesty's Secret Service?

John Barry wrote it with Hal David; Bond marries Tracy (Diana Rigg) in the film.

Connery returned for Diamonds Are Forever for $1.25 million plus what share of the gross?

Eon had already signed John Gavin, but UA chief David Picker insisted on Connery.

Which producer's plan to shoot The Man with the Golden Gun in Cambodia with Roger Moore collapsed in the 1960s?

Political instability killed the location, Moore signed up for more of The Saint, and the film waited until 1974.

Christopher Lee, who played Scaramanga, was related to Ian Fleming how?

Fleming had wanted Lee for Dr. No years earlier; Scaramanga sports a 'superfluous papilla', a third nipple.

Which two films feature Richard Kiel as the steel-toothed henchman Jaws?

Jaws was meant to be eaten by a shark, but test audiences liked him so much the ending was changed to let him survive.

Which billionaire bought 'Wet Nellie', the Lotus Esprit submarine car from The Spy Who Loved Me?

The S1 Esprit converted into a submarine after a road chase; the buyer picked it up at auction in 2013.

Oddjob was played by Harold Sakata, who was also what?

The Japanese-American also won an Olympic weightlifting medal; his razor-brimmed bowler hat is the character's signature.

Rosa Klebb's shoe blade in From Russia with Love is laced with poison from which creature?

Lotte Lenya played her; the blade was hidden in her shoe after a telephone gun failed.

Which actor played Q in 17 Eon films opposite the first five Bonds?

His last, The World Is Not Enough, introduces John Cleese's R as heir presumptive.

Lois Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny in how many consecutive Eon films, from Dr. No through 1985?

The Canadian actress's birth surname was Hooker.

After Bernard Lee's death, which actor played M from Octopussy through Licence to Kill?

Lee had played M in the first 11 films; Judi Dench then took over for GoldenEye.

Which special effects expert modified the Aston Martin DB5 for Goldfinger?

It was the first Bond appearance of the DB5, whose Vantage variant was introduced the same year, 1964.

Bond's Vesper cocktail calls for three measures of Gordon's gin, one of vodka and half a measure of what?

Kina Lillet stopped being made in 1986, but Craig's Bond still recites the original recipe in Casino Royale.

Who designed the gun barrel sequence used in every Eon Bond film?

He also created the opening titles of Dr. No in 1962; the sequence has since been reworked but never dropped.

The James Bond Theme was composed by Monty Norman and arranged for Dr. No by whom?

Norman collected royalties on it until his death in 2022; the arranger went on to score eleven Bond films.

Which is the only Eon Bond film in which the James Bond Theme is not played over the gun barrel sequence?

It is held back until the very end, when Craig's Bond finally introduces himself; the piece is in E minor.

Shirley Bassey is the only artist to sing more than one official Bond theme; which three did she record?

'Goldfinger' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

Which was the first Bond theme to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

Paul and Linda McCartney's song reunited him with Beatles producer George Martin, and lost to 'The Way We Were'.

'Nobody Does It Better' from The Spy Who Loved Me was composed by whom?

Carole Bayer Sager wrote the lyrics and Carly Simon sang it; it was the first theme since Dr. No not to share the film's title.

Which is the only Bond theme to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100?

Duran Duran's 1985 hit stalled at number two in the UK behind Paul Hardcastle's '19'.

Tina Turner's 1995 Bond theme was written by which two musicians?

The U2 pair joined the project only after Turner had been signed to sing it.

Which Norwegian band recorded The Living Daylights theme?

The band later re-recorded its own version for the 1988 album Stay on These Roads.

Who sang 'For Your Eyes Only', the first Bond theme singer seen in its title sequence?

The Scottish singer had a Top 10 hit with it in both the US and UK and the song earned an Oscar nomination.

Roger Moore's Bond films number how many, the most of any Eon actor?

From Live and Let Die (1973) to A View to a Kill (1985), after seven years playing Simon Templar in The Saint.

Timothy Dalton was cast as Bond in which month and year?

Licence to Kill was first titled Licence Revoked and written specifically for his harder-edged Bond.

Which NBC series made Pierce Brosnan famous years before he became Bond?

He was taken to see his first Bond film, Goldfinger, at age 11 and finally played 007 in four films from 1995 to 2002.

Xenia Onatopp, the thigh-crushing 1995 henchwoman, is of what nationality?

Famke Janssen played the fighter pilot, who first appears hijacking a Eurocopter Tiger in Monte Carlo.

Wai Lin, Michelle Yeoh's character in Tomorrow Never Dies, works for which agency?

She and Bond board Carver's stealth ship to stop a missile aimed at Beijing.

Halle Berry's Jinx in Die Another Day is an agent of which organization?

Bond first meets Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in Havana and follows her to a gene therapy clinic.

Daniel Craig's 2006 debut swapped the novel's baccarat game against Le Chiffre for what?

Le Chiffre, an Albanian banker to terrorists played by Mads Mikkelsen, stages the tournament in Montenegro.

Skyfall grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide; how many films had passed that mark before it?

It was the fourteenth film ever to reach a billion, released in the UK on the 50th anniversary of Dr. No, and won two of its five Oscar nominations.

Bond's family home in the 2012 film was built full-scale on Hankley Common in which county?

It was made of plywood and plaster; exterior scenery came from Glen Etive and Glencoe.

Under what name is Blofeld first known in Spectre (2015)?

Christoph Waltz plays him, presumed dead for twenty years, before the reveal.

Billie Eilish's 'No Time to Die' made her the youngest artist to record a Bond theme; how old was she?

It was the third consecutive Bond theme to win the Oscar, after Adele's 'Skyfall' and Sam Smith's 'Writing's on the Wall'.

No Time to Die was the only Bond film distributed by which short-lived joint venture?

The MGM-Annapurna partnership folded in 2023, two years after the film's delayed release.

Which two producers did Amazon MGM name in March 2025 to oversee the Bond franchise going forward?

Amazon MGM had reportedly paid $1 billion to take creative control from Eon a month earlier.

Stalin coined the name of the real Soviet agency SMERSH, Bond's early foes, from a phrase meaning what?

It was an umbrella for three Red Army counter-intelligence agencies, officially announced in April 1943.

In the acronym SPECTRE, what does the 'R' stand for?

Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion; the 2015 film dropped the acronym and just called it Spectre.

Which Hollywood legend was considered for Auric Goldfinger but priced himself out of the role?

Welles's financial demands were too high; Gert Fröbe won the part after producers saw him in It Happened in Broad Daylight.

Why was Gert Fröbe's performance as Goldfinger redubbed by another actor?

Fröbe learned his lines phonetically; his real voice is heard only in the meeting with the Mafia bosses.

How quickly did Goldfinger recoup its $3 million budget?

Demand was so high that New York's DeMille cinema stayed open 24 hours a day; Guinness listed it as the fastest-grossing film ever.

Which two actors reportedly turned down the role that became Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye?

The part was first written as 'Augustus Trevelyan', an older mentor figure, before being rewritten for Bean.

Why was GoldenEye shot at an old Rolls-Royce factory at Leavesden instead of the usual Bond studio?

With Pinewood reserved for First Knight, Eon converted the aircraft hangars at Leavesden Aerodrome into stages.

GoldenEye's opening bungee jump was filmed at which Swiss dam?

Wayne Michaels' 220-metre jump at the Contra (Verzasca) Dam was voted the best movie stunt of all time in a 2002 Sky Movies poll.

Which director declined Eon's invitation to direct Casino Royale before Martin Campbell was hired?

Eon sent Roger Michell the book and script, but he declined; Matthew Vaughn was suggested by MGM's Chris McGurk but judged too inexperienced.

Ian Fleming first wrote Dr. No as a TV outline to promote what?

The outline was for producer Henry Morgenthau III to promote Jamaica; when it fell through, Fleming turned to Harry Saltzman.