The Search For Bond Part 2 of an exclusive 3-part article

Another television actor seriously considered to replace Lazenby was Simon Oates, best known at the time for his portrayal of Dr. John Ridge in the cult BBC-TV sci-fi series Doomwatch (1970). Born in Canning Town, East London, Oates worked in theatrical rep during the 1950’s before many guest appearances in TV shows like Man In A Suitcase (1968) and Department S (1969). His Bond screen test took place at Pinewood Studios and afterwards he got a round of applause from the crew; ‘well that should be you, son, you’re all right,’ one of them told him. ‘Or so I thought,’ recalled Oates. ‘Because then I didn’t hear anything back from the producers, so it never happened for me, but, you know, life goes on.’ Exactly what the test entailed Oates can no longer remember save that there was a lot of physical stuff involved. ‘This was okay because years before I’d been a boxing champion so I was pretty fit, I could handle all that.’

Oates did eventually get to play one of fiction’s other great spies, John Steed himself in a 1971 stage adaptation of The Avengers with Sue Lloyd and Kate O’Mara. Oates can also boast of close connections with some of the other Bond actors: he was friends with Roger Moore, worked with a pre-007 Pierce Brosnan in an episode of Remington Steele (1985) and performed on stage with Sean Connery in the play Judith before negative reviews cut short its West End run at the close of 1961; not before Terence Young had witnessed Connery’s impressive performance, though, which may have played a part in the actor winning the Bond role. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised,' says Oates, 'because he was fantastic in it.’

As for his own close shave with 007, Oates has no regrets. ‘It would have been nice to have played Bond, but then you look at Lazenby and where’s he? Of course, it would have been a success if I’d played it my dear. But Playing Bond would have totally changed my life, maybe for the best, maybe for the worst. I’m more than happy with the way my career and life went. So I really have no regrets about it. Basically, had I played Bond I wouldn’t have met my wife, and for me that’s more important than playing Bond.’

Another British actor with a distinguished track record of television appearances and film work was John Ronane. Born in 1933 he played guest roles in The Saint (1963/1969), The Avengers (1967/1969) and The Persuaders (1971), as well as more distinguished fare such as the BBC television mini-series The Six Wives of Henry VIII and its follow up Elizabeth R (1970) in which he played Thomas Seymour. A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ronane also appeared in films like Charlie Bubbles (1967) with Albert Finney, How I Won the War (1967) with John Lennon and Michael Crawford, Operation Crossbow (1965) and the prisoner of war camp drama King Rat (1965).

At the time Ronane shared the same agent as Sean Connery, Richard Hatton, and it was he who told the actor unexpectedly one day that Saltzman & Broccoli had asked to see him. ‘I thought myself a most unlikely British naval commander,' Ronane confesses but went to see the producers at their office. 'They were both charming but didn’t indicate any apparent understanding of the way an actor approaches a part; hence, I suppose, why the Bond role was subsequently played by some of the worst actors ever to carry British Equity cards, in my opinion.’

The interview, in the end, never really amounted to much but today Ronane says that had the role been offered he’s sure he would have taken it. ‘But I would have sought (probably vainly) Ian Fleming’s character; i.e. a man living on the edge and by his wits – not without any concept of fear, and most likely to die before reaching fifty! By this I think I mean that fear, to a greater or lesser extent, should play its part in all life, that ‘derring do’ without fear seems stupid and looks embarrassing. Witness some of the Bonds to which we’ve been subjected.’

The real revelation of Ronane’s meeting with the producers was when Harry Saltzman told him that he’d been on his short list to play Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File, a role that, of course, went to Michael Caine. ‘I would have dearly loved to have played that character much more than Bond,’ says Ronane. ‘But I’ve no regrets whatsoever. I’ve had a blast! Hollywood bit; Emmy nomination; a life of making a living as an actor. What more could I want?’

Just like the producers, Guy Hamilton was adamant that Bond really had to be played by a British actor. That was until one night sitting in a hotel room in America he caught a late night TV chat show and was knocked out by one of the guests. His name was Burt Reynolds. “I thought he was terrific. This was when Burt was totally unknown. He had all the qualities we were looking for, he moved beautifully, and had a nice sense of humour.” Hamilton insisted the producers meet him, but the idea fell flat with United Artists who said that Reynolds was just a stuntman, while Broccoli objected due to the fact he wasn’t English. “I said to Cubby, in nine-tenths of the world Bond speaks Chinese, German, French,” recalls Hamilton. “I really think Reynolds would have made a marvellous Bond.”

Despite Broccoli’s reticence over Reynolds and his preference for British actors, he and Saltzman did end up interviewing a number of American candidates, narrowing their choice down to four whom they secretly tested. “There are some marvellous actors in the United States,” associate producer Stanley Sopel recalled. “But there’s no James Bond.” Well actually there was. The producers were most impressed with 40-year-old John Gavin, a former naval intelligence officer. Dana Broccoli, according to Guy Hamilton, was one of his strongest advocates.

Born in 1931 in Los Angeles, Gavin graduated with honors from Stanford University, majoring in Latin American economic history. Too young to participate in World War II, he did serve in the US Navy during the Korean Conflict. When he came out of the navy he was offered a screen test and signed with Universal where he was hyped as the next Rock Hudson. Handsome and debonair, John Gavin made his film debut in Behind The High Wall (1956) and his first major lead was opposite Lana Turner in the classic weepy Imitation of Life (1959).

Curiously it was after his two most famous films, playing Janet Leigh’s lover in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Julius Caesar in Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (both 1960) that the momentum of Gavin’s cinema career petered out. By the time the Bond producers came along he’d been languishing in television, and starred in a French/Italian 007 spoof called OSS 117 Double Agent (1968). But they were confident in his abilities and after some promising tests offered him the Bond role. Gavin accepted and signed a contract.

Nervous about the introduction of yet another new Bond after the less than stunning box office returns for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, United Artists were convinced there was only one actor who could guarantee a smash – Connery. A big meeting took place at Broccoli’s house in Beverly Hills. UA president David Picker flew in from New York and the matter of Connery was discussed. In the end the consensus was – ‘Let’s see if we can make a deal with Sean.’

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