James Bond, Agent Double-O-Seven of Her Majesty's Secret Service (MI6), is a cultural icon whose name few people do not know. He is a super-spy that loves the ladies as much as he loves a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred. But where exactly did James Bond come from? James Bond actually started as an international best-selling book series written by Ian Fleming with the first book, Casino Royal, coming out in 1953. The series starred the titular James Bond we all know today, the clever playboy spy taking on over the top villains and criminal organizations to save Britain, and sometimes, the world. The book series sparked many movies known today, such as Goldeneye and Casino Royal, as well as many video game adaptations. Over the years many people have played the role of James Bond. These actors are shown (not in order) and listed below.
Though we know of James Bond as the womanizing icon of espionage, there is more to his story and his past than many people know. For example, did you know that he actually used to be married? (more on that in a bit) James started out his government career as a commander in the British Navey before eventually being recruited into the MI6 and becoming a Double-O-Agent, which is a top agent of MI6 with a license to kill. This also refers to their code names, being two zeros and a number, which is why James Bond is also known as 007, or Double-O-Agent 7. And in case you are curious, yes, there are other Double-O-Agents such as 006 in Goldeneye. James was also not always the womanizing man we know, in fact, he used to be married. The details are unknown, but at some point his wife was murdered by Ernst Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, which is part of why he is Bond's arch-nemesis. after this Bond could never again commit to a relationship and is why he has so many one night stands with women.
James Bond has had a huge impact on the world and pop culture. Have you ever seen a cliche villain in a movie laughing while petting a cat? Have you ever watched movies like Austin Powers? Have you ever played a first-person-shooter videogame? you can thank James Bond for that. Many of the tropes of spy movies we know today and even of super villains in general can be traced back to James Bond, whether it be over-the-top plots to take over (or destroy) the world in some fashion, crazy gadgets, eccentric villains, secret criminal organizations led by a villain with a persian cat, and so on are all tropes started by the James Bond books and films. And that is just in regards to movies! The series has also had a massive impact on the video game industry by making first-person-shooters their own official genre and amking the genre so popular all thanks to a game for the Nintendo 64 called Goldeneye. Every FPS (First-Person-Shooter) game after the game DOOM (the first FPS) was just considered a knock-off of the game DOOM until Goldeneye came along with its revolutionary take on the first-person perspective making it an official genre. After the success of Goldeneye, dozens of 007 video games have since been made and still continue to come out.
| Actor | Total Movies | Films and Release Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sean Connery | 6 |
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| George Lazenby | 1 |
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| Roger Moore | 7 |
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| Timothy Dalton | 2 |
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| Pierce Brosnan | 4 |
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| Daniel Craig | 5 |
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