Felix Leiter
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| James Bond Character | |
 | |
| Felix Leiter | |
| Affiliates | CIA DEA |
| Behind the scenes | |
| Portrayed By | Jack Lord Cec Linder Rik Van Nutter Norman Burton David Hedison John Terry Jeffrey Wright |
Felix Leiter is a fictional character invented by Ian Fleming in the James Bond books, who also appears in the Bond movies. In the films, Leiter works for the CIA, and assists Bond in his various adventures, although in Licence to Kill, Leiter had transferred to the DEA. In the novels, Leiter initially works for the CIA, then later becomes a private detective after suffering a catastrophic injury.
In the 1954 American television adaptation of Casino Royale, which featured Barry Nelson as CIA agent Jimmy Bond, his opposite number became British secret agent Clarence Leiter.
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Film biography
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In the movies, Leiter is a CIA agent in all appearances except in Licence to Kill in which he now works for the DEA. A number of the movies feature Leiter, but the character is frequently recast and as a result has not achieved the memorable status that other characters such as M, Q and Miss Moneypenny have achieved. In fact, Leiter appears in a total of eight movies, played by seven different actors, widely varying in age and physical characteristics.
Dr. NoEdit
Added by Ohmyn0- Portrayed by Jack Lord
Leiter was not present in the Fleming novel, but the writers added the character to the film. Felix meets Bond when he is fighting Quarrel and breaks up the fight. Quarrel, who is Felix's agent, helps Bond reach Dr. Julius No's island. After defeating Dr. No, Felix tows Bond and Honey Ryder from the island.
GoldfingerEdit
- Portrayed by Cec Linder
Bond receives instructions from M via Leiter in Miami about Auric Goldfinger. Leiter later joins the raid on Fort Knox and helps Bond disarm the bomb designed to blow the vault to pieces.
Thunderball'Edit
- Portrayed by Rik Van Nutter
Bond teams up with Felix Leiter to find a hijacked plane, which they eventually find along with the corpse of the phony NATO observer. Bond is later rescued by Leiter from the underwater cave where bombs were concealed. Bond informs Felix of the location of the bomb and a platoon of US Navy Frogman attack Emilio Largo's underwater base.
Diamonds Are ForeverEdit
- Portrayed by Norman Burton
At LAX Bond meets Felix and drives to a funeral home, where Peter Franks' body is cremated and the diamonds passed onto the next smuggler, Shady Tree. The diamonds are replaced with fakes by Leiter and Bond. Bond tells Leiter to ship the real diamonds to London as he goes to Las Vegas.
On Blofeld's California oil rig, Leiter and the CIA begin a helicopter attack to assist Bond.
Live and Let DieEdit
- Portrayed by David Hedison
Felix is in New York investigating Mr. Big, Bond's new target.
The Living DaylightsEdit
- Portrayed by John Terry
Felix rescues Bond from the police after Bond's fake assassination of Pushkin. He informs him of his findings of Koskov's plans.
Licence to KillEdit
- Portrayed by David Hedison
Now working for the DEA, Leiter and Bond assassination a drug runner before parachuting into Leiter's wedding. On his honeymoon, Felix is kidnapped and killed by Franz Sanchez by being lowered into a shark tank. Bond takes his revenge on Sanchez in this film for these actions.
Casino RoyaleEdit
Added by Ohmyn0- Portrayed by Jeffrey Wright
At the Casino Royale in Montenegro Leiter plays in the high-stakes poker game against Bond and Le Chiffre. Unable to beat Le Chiffre, Leiter backs Bond with $5 million after Bond misreads Le Chiffre's bluff under the agreement that the CIA arrest Le Chiffre after the game.
Quantum of SolaceEdit
- Portrayed by Jeffrey Wright
Leiter and Gregg Beam work with Medrano's regime to ensure American gets oil rights in Bolivia when Medrano becomes president by force. Leiter informs Bond of these dealings at a bar in La Paz and warns him that the Bolivian government is after him. Bond escapes and eventually defeats Medrano. Leiter is then promoted within the CIA.
Novel biographyEdit
Felix Leiter, James Bond's CIA ally and friend, played a part in six of the Fleming novels; he is introduced in Casino Royale as a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps who was working with the Joint Intelligence Staff of NATO. Leiter is Bond's savior in Casino Royale, providing him with 32 million francs when Bond has been cleaned out by SMERSH paymaster Le Chiffre.
In Live and Let Die Leiter is attacked by a villain's shark and loses an arm and a leg. In the original draft he is killed by the shark but due to protest Fleming made him live. Leiter returned in Diamonds Are Forever with a hook for his missing hand and a prosthetic leg. Because he had lost his gun hand he was no longer with the CIA but employed as a private detective by Pinkertons Detective Agency. In Thunderball and The Man with the Golden Gun Leiter works as a reserve of the CIA.
For the post-Fleming continuation Bond authors, Leiter has also appeared on a periodic basis. Leiter makes an appearance in several John Gardner books including For Special Services with his daughter, Cedar Leiter, a fellow CIA agent and Bond's love interest. Raymond Benson also included Leiter's character in some of his novels, including The Facts of Death and Doubleshot. The more recent continuation Bond novels -- the 2008 Sebastian Faulks novel Devil May Care and the 2011 novel Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver -- both contained Leiter.
GalleryEdit
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