JAMES BOND
NEWS

29 April 2021
Frank McRae, the American film & television actor, and former professional NFL football player, has died at the age of 80. McRae will be best-remembered by James Bond fans for playing Sharkey in Licence To Kill (1989) opposite Timothy Dalton as 007.

After his football career, McRae became a character actor appearing in more than 40 movies including, Hard Times (1975), Norma Rae (1979), Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) and Red Dawn (1984). McRae also appeared F.I.S.T. (1978) with Sylvester Stallone, with whom he later reunited for Paradise Alley (1978) and Rocky II (1979). He also appeared in Last Action Hero with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1993.

One of McRae's early acting roles was in the 1973 gangster film Dillinger playing Reed Youngblood, a grinning inmate who helps Warren Oates’ titular John Dillinger escape from prison. Frank McRae also made several appearances in popular US television series including guest roles in hit series Hill Street Blues; Police Story, The Rockford Files, Magnum P.I. and Quincy M.D.

A friend of Felix Leiter (played by David Hedison), McRae's character Sharkey had a significant role in Licence To Kill (1989), before being murdered by Sanchez’ henchmen led by Milton Krest (Anthony Zerbe).

16 April 2021
English stage, television and screen actress Helen McCrory OBE, who played MP Clair Dowar in Skyfall (2012), has died at the age of 52.

Helen McCrory studied at the Drama Centre London, and made her stage debut in The Importance of Being Earnest in 1990. Other stage roles included Lady Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which won her the ‘Richard Burton Award For Most Promising Newcomer’ in the 1995 Shakespeare Globe Awards; and Olivia in Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse in 2002, directed by Sam Mendes.

In the 2006 film The Queen, McCrory played the Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair, a role she reprised in Peter Morgan's follow-up TV-Movie The Special Relationship (2010), once again opposite Michael Sheen as Tony Blair. McCrory also appeared as Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), and again in the final two films of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) & Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). Following her appearance in Skyfall, McCrory was cast in the popular BBC Television series Peaky Blinders as Polly Gray, appearing in 31 episodes between 2013 and 2019. McCrory also gave a standout performance as Madame Kali in 12 episodes of the first two seasons (2014-15) of the Sky Atlantic TV series Penny Dreadful, created and written by John Logan; and starring former 007 Timothy Dalton, Eva Green and Rory Kinnear. Sam Mendes who directed Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) acted as co-executive producer with John Logan.

“Bond. James Bond.”
The name's Cinema... The Prince Charles Cinema. And they're putting together a little JAMES BOND 007 SELECTROSPECTIVE to welcome you all back to the cinema with! The season will feature 11 Bond classics, screening on Saturday afternoons and early evenings from May 22 - August 21, 2021, with at least one film from each actor to portray James Bond in the official EON Productions series.

FULL PROGRAMME

It's been a tough year for the Bond franchise, what with losing the original big screen Agent 007 Sir Sean Connery, and the continual delay of Daniel Craig's likely final outing as the iconic British secret agent. So let this season keep you occupied and your desire to see Bond on the big screen fulfilled until No Time To Die finally hits UK cinemas this September!

Ewbank's James Bond 007 Auction, 9th April 2021, 12:00pm

Among the James Bond items offered in this auction are many theatrical posters and Exhibitor's Campaign Books, and a unique menu for the launch dinner held at The Dorchester, Park Lane on Monday 31st October 1966, to celebrate the start of production on You Only Live Twice (lot #7076). [Sold for £700] FULL CATALOGUE & RESULTS

Update April 10, 2021 - An original Dr. No quad poster sold for £16,000; and an Exhibitors’ Campaign Book from Dr. No sold for £750; a From Russia With Love quad poster sold for £8,000, with a corresponding Exhibitors’ Campaign Book selling for a staggering £1,600. A Goldfinger Exhibitors’ Campaign Book sold for £1,200, with an incomplete Thunderball quad poster still fetching £1,000.

Prop Store is hosting one of Europe's largest and most exciting Cinema Poster Live Auctions on April 22nd 2021.

Over 490 rare, sought-after posters and artworks on offer are expected to fetch in excess of £175,000. The catalogue also includes an exclusive collection of some never-before-seen poster concepts and designs for one of the world’s most exciting and innovative creative agencies - FEREF - and includes many alternative concepts for well-known poster campaigns such as Star Wars, James Bond and so much more.

View James Bond lots #208 - #249    Full auction catalogue

Update April 23, 2021 - An original From Russia With Love quad poster sold for £7,000; a corresponding double crown sold for £2,000; a 1965 double-bill of Dr. No/From Russia With Love sold for £2,250; quad posters from You Only Live Twice (1967) [Style A], and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) sold for £900 and £1,200 respectively. The FEREF Archive James Bond lots appear to have been withdrawn from the auction.

The HOLLYWOOD SCI-FI, ACTION, FANTASY AND MORE AUCTION features over 800 movie props and will take place on Wednesday, April 28 & Thursday, April 29, 2021 at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills and live online at juliensauctions.com.

Following Julien's historic sale for $256,000 in December 2020 of the Walther PP used by legendary actor Sean Connery in the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962), the auction house will be offering Connery's hero Walther P5 from his last Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983). In one of the most renowned collection of Bond weapons brought to auction in years, Julien's will also offer an M16 prop rifle used in Moonraker (1979); the very first Walther P99 used by Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and the hero .38 Smith & Wesson used by Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day (2002).

FULL STORY AND IMAGES

Update April 29, 2021 - The Never Say Never Again Walther P5 sold for $106,250, all other James Bond weapons were unsold.

15 March 2021
Yaphet Kotto, the American actor who played the dual role of Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big in Roger Moore's debut film as James Bond Live And Let Die (1973), has died at the age of 81.

Born in New York City in 1939 Kotto made his professional acting debut in Othello, and was a member of The Actors Studio in New York. Kotto got his start in acting on Broadway, appearing in The Great White Hope among other productions. His cinema debut came in 1963 with an uncredited role in the comedy-western 4 For Texas starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ursula Andress. Kotto's breakthrough role would come in 1972 when he starred alongside Anthony Quinn in the crime-thriller Across 110th Street.

In 1973 Yaphet Kotto was cast as the villain in Live And Let Die playing the corrupt Caribbean dictator Dr. Kananga, and his alter ego gangster drug baron Mr. Big. Although he brought great dignity to the role, which was filmed at the height of the cinematic ‘Blaxploitation’ movement, he struggled with Tom Mankiewicz’ stereotypical script and was unhappy with the comedic demise of his character at the end of the film. Kotto subsequently would not take part in any publicity for Live And Let Die, and did not attend the premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in July 1973.

Perhaps Yaphet Kotto's most famous role would be in Ridley Scott's unforgettable sci-fi thriller Alien (1979), where he memorably played chief engineer Parker, holding his own in the gender and racially defining classic.

6 March 2021
Monica “Nikki” van der Zyl, known for her voice dubbing work on ten James Bond films has died at the age of 85. Born in Berlin in 1935, Nikki moved to England and began her career in British films by re-voicing Shirley Anne Field in the 1960 comedy Man in the Moon. However, it will be her contribution to the James Bond series for which she will be best-remembered. Her re-voicing of many of the principal (and smaller part) actresses was demanding in the extreme and her professionalism was admired by all who worked with her. Only rarely in film production are the voices of actors deemed to be unsuitable in terms of clarity, diction or accent, but throughout the early days of the Bond series actresses were cast for their visual suitability rather than their mastery of the English language.

Ursula Andress was re-voiced in Dr. No (1962) due to her strong Swiss-German accent, with Nikki van der Zyl providing her entire vocal and singing performance. In addition to Andress, Nikki also re-voiced Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench [and again in From Russia With Love (1963)], and Dolores Keator who played Strangways' secretary Mary at the start of the film. In Goldfinger (1964), Nikki re-voiced Nadja Regin and Shirley Eaton, as well as also acting as on-set English-language vocal coach to Gert Frobe. Claudine Auger in Thunderball (1965) and Mie Hama in You Only Live Twice (1967) were also completely re-voiced by Nikki van der Zyl, followed by Virginia North in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and Denise Perrier in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). In later films it was decided to partially re-voice several actresses for clarity, and part of Jane Seymour's vocal performance in Live And Let Die (1973) was enhanced by Nikki van der Zyl, who then provided the entire vocal performance of Francoise Therry (Chew Mee) in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974). Nikki later re-voiced part of the performance of French actress Corinne Cléry in Moonraker (1979), which was to be her final connection with the James Bond series. Nikki's name never appeared in the credits of any of the James Bond films she worked on, but her significant contribution to the series cannot be underestimated.

FOR YOUR EARS ONLY – The autobiography of Nikki van der Zyl

3 March 2021
William P. Cartidge, who worked on the three James Bond film directed by Lewis Gilbert, has died at the age of 78.

Born in 1942, Cartlidge was the son of a senior executive at Rank Cinemas which helped him secure a position as darkroom assistant at Elstree Studios. Moving up the ranks of assistant director in the early 1960s on such films as Summer Holiday (1963), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), Born Free (1966) and The Reptile (1966), Cartlidge was hired by Lewis Gilbert (1920-2018) to be his assistant director on Alfie (1966) starring Michael Caine. The film was a huge critical and commercial success, and Gilbert was the chosen to direct the fifth James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967), retaining William Cartlidge as his first assistant.

When Lewis Gilbert returned to the series to direct The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979), William Cartlidge came with him; but this time took on the role of associate producer to Albert R. Broccoli, now working solo following his split with Harry Saltzman. Cartlidge later teamed up again with Lewis Gilbert to co-produce the award-winning Educating Rita (1983) starring Michael Caine.

20 February 2021
Veteran British voiceover artist and actor David De Keyser has died at the age of 93.  Born on August 22, 1927 in Islington, London, as Rafael David de Keyser, he was narrator of the cinema newsreel Pathe Pictorial from 1956-1962, but will be best remembered by James Bond fans as the voice of Marc Ange Draco (played by Gabriele Ferzetti) in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). De Keyser would also re-voice Gabriele Ferzetti for the English-language version of Liliana Cavani's controversial 1974 film The Night Porter, which starred Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling.

David de Keyser also played Blofeld's plastic surgeon (credited as ‘Doctor’) in the pre-credit sequence of Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He was also a familiar face in minor acting roles in many British television series from the late 1950s, and was still working until 2016. He also provided the voice of Count Dracula (played by John Forbes-Robertson) in the 1974 Hammer film Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, and a brief vocal appearance as the prison warden at the end of Superman: The Movie (1978). In 2001 he provided the voices of both Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort in the videogame adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone.

21 January 2021
French driving stunt arranger/performer and stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne has died at the age of 90, after contracting COVID-19.

A veteran of over 1,400 films including The Italian Job (1969) and six James Bond adventures (five of which were directed by John Glen). Rémy Julienne's first Bond assignment was driving stunts arranger on For Your Eyes Only (1981), when he choreographed the spectacular chase through the olive groves on the island of Corfu. Julienne returned to the series as driving stunts arranger on Octopussy (1983) and again for A View To A Kill (1985), also doubling for Roger Moore (uncredited) during the car chase in Paris.

Rémy Julienne also served as driving stunts arranger on The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence To Kill (1989), where he doubled for Timothy Dalton when Bond tilts a tanker onto its side to avoid an oncoming missile. After many aborted attempts with other drivers, Julienne took to the wheel and performed the stunt himself in one take. Julienne's final James Bond film was GoldenEye (1995) starring Pierce Brosnan, which included the memorable tank chase filmed on location in St. Petersburg and at Leavesden Studios.

18 January 2021
The BOND IN MOTION exhibition has now come to the end of its time at the London Film Museum. In January 2014 production began on the BOND IN MOTION exhibition in partnership with EON Productions, opening a new chapter in the London Film Museum's history. BOND IN MOTION was the largest official collection of original James Bond vehicles and props including concept drawings, storyboards, scripts, model miniatures and full-size cars, boats, and motorbikes. Highlights included the Aston Martin DB10 from Spectre (2015), the Aston Martin DB5 from GoldenEye (1995); the ‘Wet Nellie’ Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger (1964); and the ‘Little Nellie’ Wallis WA-116 Agile Autogyro from You Only Live Twice (1967).

Read the 007 MAGAZINE review of BOND IN MOTION

7 January 2021
Michael Apted, who directed Pierce Brosnan's third James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999), has died at the age of 79.

Born in Aylesbury on February 10, 1941, Apted began his career at Granada Television in Manchester. One of his first assignments was researcher on the ground-breaking documentary series Seven Up! (1964), which charted the lives of fourteen British children from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Apted then directed the eight subsequent series which returned to the children every seven years. The last series 63 Up was broadcast by ITV in 2019. Apted also directed several episodes of the long-running Granada soap opera Coronation Street, and two episodes of the popular Yorkshire Television children's series Follyfoot (1971-73), which featured Desmond Llewelyn as Colonel Maddocks, owner of Follyfoot Farm.

Michael Apted's feature film debut was Triple Echo (1972) starring Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed. Apted then alternated work on TV and film with character-based dramas including Agatha (1979) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) starring Sissy Spacek, Gorky Park (1983) starring William Hurt and Lee Marvin, and Gorillas in the Mist (1988) starring Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey.

Michael Apted was therefore an unusual choice when he was approached to direct The World Is Not Enough (1999) in August 1998. Having agreed to direct, Apted also had some input at the scripting stage and made many suggestions that were ultimately incorporated into the final uncredited rewrite by Dana Stevens (Apted's then wife). Most of the changes focussed on the strengthening of the character of Elektra King played by Sophie Marceau. In June 1999 Michael Apted was reunited with Follyfoot star Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999) for his three-day shoot in Q's lab, which was the final appearance in the series for the much-loved actor. At the time of its release The World Is Not Enough became the highest-grossing James Bond film to date, taking over $350-million at the box-office.

In addition to his television and feature film work Apted also continued to direct documentaries including The Official Film of the 2006 FIFA World Cup narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

4 January 2021
American Actress Tanya Roberts, who played Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill (1985), has died at the age of 65 - a day after her agent and partner prematurely announced the news.

Born Victoria Leigh Blum in New York City, Roberts began her career as a model in TV advertisements, and started acting in off-Broadway plays in the late 1970s. In 1980 Roberts was chosen from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the popular US television series Charlie's Angels. The show ultimately suffered from low ratings and was cancelled in June 1981. Roberts then starred in the adventure fantasy film The Beastmaster (1982) which she promoted with a PLAYBOY pictorial in the October issue. Roberts followed this by playing the secretary to private detective Mike Hammer (played by Stacy Keach) in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You (1983), although she declined to appear in the follow-up series to work on Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1984), which proved to be a critical and box-office disaster. Tanya Roberts then appeared as geologist Stacey Sutton in A View To A Kill (1985) opposite Roger Moore in his final James Bond film. After appearances in several more forgettable US films Tanya Roberts played the recurring role of Midge Pinciotti in three seasons of the popular US television period sitcom That '70s Show (1998-2000). She later appeared as a special guest in seasons 6 & 7 (2004), before leaving the series to look after her terminally ill husband Barry.