58 Fun Facts About Hard James Bond

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

Fleming's Naval Intelligence codename was 17F; he was personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence, working from 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?

Operation Goldeneye was Fleming's contingency plan for Spain should Franco join the Axis; he named his Jamaican estate Goldeneye after it in 1946.

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

Fleming published two short-story collections, For Your Eyes Only (1960) and the posthumous Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966), alongside twelve novels from Casino Royale (1953) on.

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

Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, Ian Fleming's 1964 children's story about a magical car, was written for his son Caspar and became a 1968 musical film.

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

Barry Nelson played an American 'Jimmy Bond' in the 1954 Climax! episode adapting Casino Royale, 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?

Terence Young directed Dr. No, released in October 1962 on a budget of about $1 million; he went on to direct From Russia with Love and Thunderball.

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

Kevin McClory co-wrote the Thunderball screenplay, first titled Longitude 78 West; after suing Fleming over the 1961 novel he won film rights that enabled Never Say Never Again (1983).

Which writer adapted You Only Live Twice for the 1967 film?

Roald Dahl wrote the You Only Live Twice screenplay, a loose adaptation of Fleming's 1964 novel that keeps little beyond the Japanese setting and Blofeld.

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

Jan Werich, a Czech actor, shot five days as Blofeld before Lewis Gilbert and Broccoli judged him too benign and recast Donald Pleasence, citing illness publicly.

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

Her father, Frank Sinatra, was approached first and passed; Nancy was so nervous at the session she said she sometimes sounded like Minnie Mouse.

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

His agent, Ronan O'Rahilly, convinced Lazenby that Bond would look dated in the 1970s, so he announced he was quitting before On Her Majesty's Secret Service opened in December 1969.

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

Louis Armstrong recorded 'We Have All the Time in the World' in 1969, one of his final recordings; Bond marries Tracy (Diana Rigg) in the film.

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

United Artists paid Connery $1.25 million plus 12.5% of the gross, a fee he gave to the Scottish International Education Trust; John Gavin had already been signed.

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

Harry Saltzman planned to shoot in Cambodia with Roger Moore in the late 1960s, but 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?

Lee was Fleming's step-cousin: his stepfather, banker Harcourt Rose, was Fleming's uncle. Fleming had wanted Lee for Dr. No years earlier.

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

Richard Kiel played Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979); he was meant to die by shark in the first but was spared so he could return.

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

Elon Musk bought Wet Nellie at a London auction in September 2013 for about £550,000, saying he wanted to make the car transform for real.

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

Harold Sakata was a professional wrestler billed as Tosh Togo and had won a weightlifting silver medal at the 1948 London Olympics; his razor-brimmed bowler is Oddjob's signature.

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

The blade carries pufferfish toxin; Fleming's novel specifies fugu poison from the Japanese globe-fish. Lotte Lenya played Klebb, who is shot by Tatiana in the final scene.

Which actor played Q in 17 Eon films, opposite every Bond from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan?

Desmond Llewelyn appeared in more Bond films than any other actor; his last, The World Is Not Enough, introduced John Cleese's R as heir presumptive.

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

Lois Maxwell played Moneypenny in 14 films, from Dr. No (1962) to A View to a Kill (1985); the Canadian actress was born Lois Hooker.

After Bernard Lee's death in 1981, which actor played M from Octopussy through Licence to Kill?

Robert Brown was hired for Octopussy after Lee, who had played M in the first 11 films, died in 1981; Judi Dench then took over for GoldenEye.

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

John Stears, Eon's special effects supervisor, fitted the DB5 with its ejector seat and gadgets for Goldfinger (1964); he later won Oscars for Thunderball and Star Wars.

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?

Maurice Binder designed the gun barrel for Dr. No in 1962, shooting it through a pinhole camera; he went on to design the title sequences of 14 Bond films.

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

John Barry arranged Monty Norman's theme for Dr. No and went on to score eleven Bond films; Norman collected royalties on the theme until his death in 2022.

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

Casino Royale (2006) withholds the James Bond Theme from its gun barrel, saving the full theme for the final scene where Craig's Bond 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?

Bassey sang Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Moonraker (1979); '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?

'Live and Let Die' by Paul and Linda McCartney, produced by George Martin, was nominated at the 1974 Oscars and lost to 'The Way We Were'.

Who composed 'Nobody Does It Better', the Carly Simon theme from the Roger Moore Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me?

Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music and Carole Bayer Sager the lyrics, making it the first Bond theme since Dr. No not to share its film's title.

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

Duran Duran's 'A View to a Kill' topped the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1985 but stalled at number two in the UK behind Paul Hardcastle's '19'.

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

Bono and the Edge of U2 wrote 'GoldenEye' for Tina Turner, who had already been signed to sing it; Nellee Hooper produced the track.

Which Norwegian band recorded The Living Daylights theme?

a-ha, the Norwegian trio behind 'Take On Me', recorded the 1987 theme and later re-recorded their 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?

Sheena Easton, the Scottish singer, is shown performing during the title sequence; the song reached the Top 10 in both the US and UK and earned an Oscar nomination.

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

Moore made seven Eon films, from Live and Let Die (1973) to A View to a Kill (1985), one more than Connery's six official entries.

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

Dalton's casting was announced in August 1986 after Pierce Brosnan's television contract blocked him; Licence to Kill was then written for his harder-edged Bond.

Which 1980s detective series made Pierce Brosnan famous years before he became Bond?

Remington Steele made him a star; Brosnan finally played 007 in four films from 1995 to 2002, having been taken to his first Bond film, Goldfinger, at age 11.

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

Xenia Onatopp is Georgian, a former Soviet fighter pilot played by Famke Janssen; she first appears in Monte Carlo, where she steals the Eurocopter Tiger from a French frigate.

Wai Lin, Michelle Yeoh's character in Tomorrow Never Dies, belongs to which organisation?

Wai Lin is an agent of the fictional Chinese People's External Security Force; 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?

Jinx is an NSA agent who reports to Damian Falco (Michael Madsen); Bond first meets her in Havana and follows her to Dr. Alvarez's gene-therapy clinic.

In Casino Royale (2006), Daniel Craig's Bond faces Le Chiffre in which card game, replacing the novel's baccarat?

Le Chiffre, a banker to terrorists played by Mads Mikkelsen, stages a Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro to recoup his clients' money.

How many films had grossed $1 billion worldwide before Skyfall joined them in 2012?

13 films had crossed $1 billion before Skyfall became the fourteenth in 2012, the series' 50th-anniversary year; it 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?

Hankley Common lies near Elstead in Surrey; the Skyfall lodge was a plywood-and-plaster shell built there, with the Scottish scenery shot in Glen Etive and Glencoe.

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

Christoph Waltz plays Franz Oberhauser, son of Bond's boyhood guardian Hannes Oberhauser, presumed dead for twenty years before revealing himself as Blofeld.

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

Eilish was 18 when 'No Time to Die' was released in February 2020, the youngest Bond theme artist; it became the third consecutive Bond theme to win the Oscar after 'Skyfall' and 'Writing's on the Wall'.

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

United Artists Releasing, the MGM–Annapurna joint venture formed in 2017, handled the US release; it was folded into Amazon MGM in 2023, two years after the film's delayed 2021 release.

After taking creative control of Bond from Eon, Amazon MGM in March 2025 named which two producers to oversee the franchise?

Amy Pascal and David Heyman were named producers in March 2025 through Pascal Pictures and Heyday Films, a month after Amazon MGM reportedly paid $1 billion to take creative control from Eon.

SMERSH, the real Soviet counter-intelligence agency used as Bond's early foe, is a portmanteau of a Russian phrase meaning what?

'Death to spies', Smert' shpionam, was Stalin's own coinage; the agency was an umbrella for three Red Army counter-intelligence bodies, 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 spoke little English and delivered his phonetically learned lines too slowly, so actor Michael Collins redubbed Goldfinger's dialogue in post-production.

How quickly did Goldfinger recoup its $3 million budget?

Goldfinger recouped its $3 million budget in two weeks; demand was so high New York's DeMille cinema stayed open 24 hours a day, and 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?

Anthony Hopkins and Alan Rickman both reportedly declined the part, first drafted as an older mentor called Augustus Trevelyan, before it was rewritten for Sean 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.