- "Ian Fleming and I used to play a lot of golf together down near Sandwich. One day before the first Bond was made, he asked me if I had read the book Dr. No. I said I had and enjoyed it very much. He said to me "I would like you to play Dr. No" and of course I was very thrilled with the idea. But Ian could be slightly forgetful and by the time he mentioned it to the two producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman they had cast a fine actor, Joseph Wiseman, in the role."
- ― Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Lee (1922 - 2015) portrayed Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. He was a close personal friend to Sir Roger Moore, whom he first met in 1948, and also a distant relative of Ian Fleming.
Bond Involvement[]
Lee was the step cousin to Bond's creator Ian Fleming, his friend and a regular golfing partner. While Lee and Fleming were golfing together, Fleming suggested that Lee should play the role of Dr. Julius No in the upcoming movie adaptation. However, the role never came to Lee and instead went to Joseph Wiseman. Lee claimed that this was because Fleming had simply forgotten to mention his name to the producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, although Lee held no ill will over losing out on the role, calling Wiseman a fine actor.
Due to Lee's long history serving in the military, it has often been said that Fleming based much of James Bond on Lee's life, since Lee saw much more active combat during World War II than Fleming had done. Lee had served in the Royal Air Force, eventually leaving the service with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Although Lee chose not to give up many details on his military service, it is said that he was tasked with tracking down and assassinating Nazi war criminals, with Lee only noting that he was involved with special forces.
Having been considered for the role of Dr. No in 1962, Lee was eventually cast as Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun. Lee got the chance to work with his long time friend, Roger Moore, who portrayed James Bond in this film.
In 2005, Lee returned to the role of Scaramanga for the video game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, becoming the only actor, besides Judi Dench who played M, to return to their role, as several of the other characters featured in the game were portrayed by actors who had already passed away, such as Donald Pleasence and Gert Fröbe. Although the other parts were recast, the likenesses of the actors were still used, with Lee providing his own likeness and voice to the video game.
Trivia[]
- Lee volunteered to fight the Soviets in Finland in 1939, but did not see action in the campaign. His commander, Sir Ormonde Winter, known as 'O', was the former head of intelligence in Dublin Castle and has been suggested as one of the inspirations for 'M'.
- Christopher Lee worked with Bernard Lee in Pursuit of the Graf Spee, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and The Man with the Golden Gun. Bernard Lee's grandson Jonny Lee Miller worked with Christopher Lee in Dark Shadows.
- In 1978, Lee had been offered the role of Dr. Sam Loomis in the classic horror film Halloween, but declined the role because he did not think it worth it to travel all the way to the United States for filming. The role of Dr. Loomis eventually went to fellow Bond villain actor Donald Pleasence.
- Lee starred with pre-007 star Pierce Brosnan in the 1993 espionage film Detonator.
