50 YEARS OF JAMES BOND
James Bond is the most famous fictional spy in the world. There are not many people on the planet that haven't heard of him, and very few that have not seen at least one James Bond film. Bond is a secret service agent with the code number of 007 who lives in London and has been around for 50 years.
The character was created by Ian Fleming in 1953 that went on to write twelve Bond novels and a couple of short stores before he died in 1964. Ian came from a wealthy family with his father being a member of parliament. Ian was educated at Eton and had a number of jobs before becoming a writer. He was a journalist and naval intelligence officer. It was while he was in the British naval intelligence during the Second World War, that he was involved in the planning stages of a number of operations which gave him the background needed to write convincing spy novels.
The name James Bond came from the American ornithologist with the same name. Fleming was a keen birdwatcher and had a copy of the ornithologists James Bonds guide 'Birds of the West Indies'. Fleming thought it was a masculine but simple name perfect for his spy character.
Fleming wrote about a number of character traits which are still true to form in recent stories and films. Bond had a serious love of cars, food and drink and was a heavy smoker until the 80's when he quit. He was also a bit of a womaniser and always got the ladies he wanted.
Over the years there have been a few James bond. Sir Sean Connery played the agent from 1962 to 1983, then George Lazenby took over in 1969. From 1971 to 1985 my favourite Bond Sir Roger Moore did a stunning job. Next up was Timothy Dalton from 1987 to 1989, next up was Pierce Brosnan from 1995 to2002. Currently James Bond is being played by Daniel Craig and he has done since 2006. The latest film Skyfall was the 23rd installment and has proved to be a box office smash as it went straight to No 1 in 25 markets.
Gadgets have played a major part in the films over the years and they seemed to take over at one point but now they are less featured. There have been some great gadgets over the years including X-ray Glasses which were featured in 'The world is not enough'. The spy hook and rocket pack was featured in 'Thunderball' and a voice changer was in 'Diamonds are forever'. There were cigarette darts in 'You only live twice' and who can forget the steel teeth in 'The spy who loved me', although I don't think these qualify as a gadget.
Music has always played a part in the James Bond films and has caused much controversy over the years. Top musicians have been drafted in to record the theme tune over the years and the song is pretty much guaranteed to be a number 1 hit.
Today fans of James Bond can go on tours around London and get an insight into the British secret service as well as seeing some of the filming locations. There are also lots of fan websites and communities which fans can join.
The popularity of James Bond looks set to continue. With filming technology evolving, you can be sure that there will be plenty more Bond films with spectacular special effects to draw in new audiences. Fans can look forward to the next 50 years of Bond.
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