JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

This page is dedicated to those behind-the-scenes personnel who have made notable contributions to the James Bond film series from 1962 to the present day. These talented men and women have played an important part in the ongoing success of the James Bond films. Whilst some made a significant contribution to just one film, others frequently worked on multiple entries in the series with their involvement often going uncredited... until now!

From the very beginning the James Bond series benefited from by being promoted internationally by experienced United Artists marketing executives, who spearheaded the publicity surrounding the production of and subsequent advertising campaigns for each film. The making of the films was well-documented by a series of stills photographers who recorded the on-set action, and others who undertook specially posed publicity stills with the stars.

In addition to the United Artists executives promoting the James Bond films, EON Productions employed their own director of publicity, who was responsible for additional marketing and tie-ins with companies and their products. Derek Coyte (1929-2014) [pictured above in glasses to the right of Yaphet Kotto in Live And Let Die (1973)] was involved throughout the 1970s, although never formally credited on any of the films he worked on. Derek Coyte had earlier been responsible for a very clever item of cross-promotion with Player's cigarettes in 1965. A two-sided letter on thin blue water-marked airmail paper was folded inside the film tie-in paperback 14th edition of THUNDERBALL from PAN Books. The letter from Domino to James Bond refers to the sailor ‘hero’ on the front of Player's Navy Cut cigarette packets. Coyte was also heavily involved with Roger Moore's account of the filming of Live And Let Die, first published in paperback by PAN Books in 1973. Although credited to Roger Moore, the book was actually ghost-written by Derek Coyte from Moore's audiotape dictation notes.

A number of talented photographers worked on the James Bond films from 1962, and are responsible for the behind-the-scenes productions stills and promotional images of the stars. In conjunction with the poster artwork, these iconic images have become synonymous with the world of James Bond 007, and present a unique insight into the way films are made and promoted. As was the case with many other skilled artists associated with the James Bond films, much of their work went uncredited at the time. Stills photographers were not formally credited on the Bond films until Moonraker (1979). The first three films in the series each had a full-time stills photographer attached to the production who was on set and location throughout the shoot, although other commercial freelance photographers were hired to undertake special photo shoots for magazines. These additional photographers were engaged because it was thought – rightly or wrongly – that their work was superior to the production stillsman. It was not until For Your Eyes Only (1981) that the series returned to employing photographers who were engaged for the entire production – one for the main unit, and another to accompany the second unit on location. This tradition continued until the Daniel Craig films, which all had different stills photographers, in addition to those working with other units during filming.

The American father and son team of Sam & Larry Shaw took many photographs on the set of Casino Royale (1967), and their work was later showcased in the February 1967 issue of PLAYBOY, along with stills taken by renowned British photographer Terry O'Neill. In addition to his work on the 1967 spoof James Bond film, O'Neill also photographed Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore in the EON Productions series. Terry O’Neill was also chosen as the official photographer at the launch of James Bond #5, and his shot of a bearded Pierce Brosnan was the first image released of the new 007 in 1994. O’Neill once more provided iconic images of Pierce Brosnan, Izabella Scorupco and Famke Janssen in a series of publicity stills used during the promotion of GoldenEye (1995).

Many high-profile commercial photographers often shot special publicity stills to promote the release of each new film, or tie-in with a particular product. In addition to those present throughout entire the production to document the day-to-day progress, an eclectic roster of well-respected international photographers have visited the set during filming to capture the action, or take specially posed stills of the stars. Their work then featured in newspaper and magazine coverage of each release, with later films afforded a ‘making of’ book featuring the photographs of Greg Williams, who joined the series in 2002. The 2020 book The Goldfinger Files: The Making of the Iconic Alpine Sequence in the James Bond Movie “Goldfinger” by Steffen Appel & Peter Waelty is an excellent account of the filming of the Swiss location scenes in Goldfinger (1964) featuring stills by German photographer Erich Kocian and Swiss-born Josef Ritler and Hans Gerber. Kocian's work on many James Bond films was also collected in the German language book Die James Bond Filme first published by Heyne Filmbibliothek in 1982, and reissued several times to include his work on later films in the series.

Throughout the 1960s it was common for international posters to feature different artwork to that seen in the UK and US advertising campaigns. Usually painted by a renowned poster artist from the country of origin, these designs often featured an alternate take on the original English language versions, with others offering a completely different style of artwork. Some artists worked on more than one title during the 1960s, with others employed just for one film. This was the case with Spanish poster designer and illustrator Francisco Fernández-Zarza Pérez, known as “Jano”. For the Spanish 70mm engagements of Casino Royale (1967), a special alternate poster was designed which featured the familiar Robert McGinnis ‘Tattooed Girl’ artwork, but with additional illustrations of the female leads at the top. From the 1970s poster artwork was generally the same in all territories with titles and credits translated as required. Japanese posters for the James Bond films of the 1960s featured garish photo-montages and elements of artwork, but later releases also had an alternate style which utilised the familiar key artwork seen elsewhere. For Your Eyes Only (1981) is unique in that it also had a poster painted by Hisamitsu Noguchi, featuring Roger Moore in the familiar Robert McGinnis pose with the addition of girls and action elements similar to those seen on the UK poster designed by Eric Pulford and painted by Brian Bysouth.

FACT FILES INDEX

Key personnel on other James Bond films

FACT FILES The James Bond films