Inspirations for James Bond
Encyclopedia
A number of real-life inspirations have been suggested for James Bond
, the sophisticated fictional character
and British
spy created by Ian Fleming
. Although the Bond stories were often fantasy-driven, they did incorporate some real places, incidents and, occasionally, organisations such as SMERSH
.
in 1953 until his death in 1964, Ian Fleming would holiday at "Goldeneye", his Jamaican house, where he would write a James Bond novel. Fleming was a bird watcher, and owned a copy of Birds of the West Indies
, by the American ornithologist James Bond
. Later explaining appropriating the name for his literary character, he said the name was "brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon, and yet very masculine — just what I needed". In the film Die Another Day
(2002), agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan
) picks up a copy of Birds of the West Indies in Cuba, then poses as an ornithologist.
Fleming never claimed another source for the "James Bond" name; however, there was a James Bond who attended Fettes College
, Edinburgh
, Scotland
. Fettes is the second school the fictional James Bond attended after expulsion from Eton College
because of womanizing, parallel to Fleming's Eton career. The Fettes alumnus, James Bond, was a frogman
with the Special Boat Service
, much as the fictional character Bond also has a naval background. The school has his Who's Who
entry copied and framed in a main corridor.
From 1929 to 2005 there stood a church in Toronto
, on Avenue Road just north of Eglinton Avenue
, called St James-Bond United Church. The name was a portmanteau chosen after the union of two congregations. Fleming himself perpetuated the myth that he trained in Canada for special operations during the Second World War; actually, no record exists of his ever visiting Camp X
as he claimed.
Fleming was the personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence. He reached the rank of commander, the same as James Bond throughout Fleming's series, and was the planner for special ops unit 30th Assault Unit
. Fleming both emphasized and deemphasized his fictional creation's autobiographical aspects, joking that Bond was braver and more handsome than he.
Aside from himself, Fleming stated that "[Bond] was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war". Real people who were involved in espionage that have been cited as models for Bond, in alphabetical order, are:
>* Dušan Popov
, a Serbian
double-agent of MI6 and Abwehr
. Fleming worked in the British naval intelligence during the Second World War and trailed Popov who, having been "known for his irresistible charm and his superb work as a spy", eventually got recruited by the British
Although other names have been mentioned by the media, none have ever been confirmed by Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications
or Fleming's assistant and friend, John Pearson
. In the view of Andrew Lycett, Fleming's biographer, Bond probably owes something to both Mason and Dunderdale, and possibly also "Sandy" Glen. Of all the former agents who have been linked, or have claimed to be linked, with Bond, these are the "best bets," he says.
When asked to suggest an actor to portray Bond on screen, Ian Fleming mentioned Cary Grant
.
', in executing his duties.
, From Russia with Love
, and Thunderball
.
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, the sophisticated fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
spy created by Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
. Although the Bond stories were often fantasy-driven, they did incorporate some real places, incidents and, occasionally, organisations such as SMERSH
SMERSH
SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...
.
The name
Every year, from the publication of Casino RoyaleCasino Royale (novel)
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors....
in 1953 until his death in 1964, Ian Fleming would holiday at "Goldeneye", his Jamaican house, where he would write a James Bond novel. Fleming was a bird watcher, and owned a copy of Birds of the West Indies
Birds of the West Indies
Birds of the West Indies is a book containing exhaustive coverage of the 400+ species of birds found in the Caribbean Sea, excluding the ABC islands, and Trinidad and Tobago, which are considered bio-geographically as part of South America.Written by ornithologist James Bond, the book was first...
, by the American ornithologist James Bond
James Bond (ornithologist)
James Bond was a leading American ornithologist whose name was appropriated by writer Ian Fleming for his fictional spy, James Bond.-Biography:...
. Later explaining appropriating the name for his literary character, he said the name was "brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon, and yet very masculine — just what I needed". In the film Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
(2002), agent 007 (Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
) picks up a copy of Birds of the West Indies in Cuba, then poses as an ornithologist.
Fleming never claimed another source for the "James Bond" name; however, there was a James Bond who attended Fettes College
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Fettes is the second school the fictional James Bond attended after expulsion from Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
because of womanizing, parallel to Fleming's Eton career. The Fettes alumnus, James Bond, was a frogman
Frogman
A frogman is someone who is trained to scuba diving or swim underwater in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combatant diver or combat swimmer....
with the Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
, much as the fictional character Bond also has a naval background. The school has his Who's Who
Who's Who (UK)
Who's Who is an annual British publication of biographies which vary in length of about 30,000 living notable Britons.-History:...
entry copied and framed in a main corridor.
From 1929 to 2005 there stood a church in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, on Avenue Road just north of Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue
Eglinton Avenue, originally known as the Richview Sideroad within Etobicoke, is an east-west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Within Toronto, Eglinton Avenue is the only road which crosses through all six former boroughs...
, called St James-Bond United Church. The name was a portmanteau chosen after the union of two congregations. Fleming himself perpetuated the myth that he trained in Canada for special operations during the Second World War; actually, no record exists of his ever visiting Camp X
Camp X
Camp X was the unofficial name of a Second World War paramilitary and commando training installation, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario between Whitby and Oshawa in Ontario, Canada...
as he claimed.
Character inspirations
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Fleming was the personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence. He reached the rank of commander, the same as James Bond throughout Fleming's series, and was the planner for special ops unit 30th Assault Unit
30th Assault Unit
No. 30 Commando was a British Commando unit of the Second World War. It was formed in 1941 to gather intelligence. To this end personnel from the sections operated with forward troops to seize documents and materials and carry out interrogations...
. Fleming both emphasized and deemphasized his fictional creation's autobiographical aspects, joking that Bond was braver and more handsome than he.
Aside from himself, Fleming stated that "[Bond] was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war". Real people who were involved in espionage that have been cited as models for Bond, in alphabetical order, are:
- Prince Bernhard of Lippe-BiesterfeldPrince Bernhard of Lippe-BiesterfeldPrince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, was prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and father of six children, including the current monarch Queen Beatrix....
, Bon vivant and decorated war hero. Bernhard's life story still fascinates many and is the inspiration for literature, television and comic books. In 2010 the fact and fiction of the life of Bernhard is portrayed in a Dutch television series. In the series it is insinuated that Ian Fleming, who knew Bernhard from their war efforts in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, based some features of his fictional character on Bernhard, who was for instance known to enjoy Vodka Martini shaken and not stirred. In the novel Thunderball there is a person named "Count Lippe" which is probably a reference to him.
- Sidney CottonSidney CottonFrederick Sidney Cotton OBE was an Australian inventor, photographer and aviation and photography pioneer, responsible for developing and promoting an early colour film process, and largely responsible for the development of photographic reconnaissance before and during the Second World War...
was born in Australia and moved to England to serve in the Royal Naval Air ServiceRoyal Naval Air ServiceThe Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
. He was a close friend of Ian Fleming during WWII and is also considered an inspiration for QQ (James Bond)Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
, because of the gadgets he invented: camouflage for aircraft, an upward firing gun mounting, long range bombing methods, and the cottonising process which improved the Spitfire by 65 km/h. He devised a method for taking aerial photographs and then used it to take photos of German munitions factories, airfields, troop concentrations and anti-aircraft batteries and even Hitler's personal yacht. He often posed as a businessman, an archaeologist or a film producer looking for locations for a movie so he could take his spy photographs.
- Commander Patrick Dalzel-JobPatrick Dalzel-JobPatrick Dalzel-Job , was a distinguished British Naval Intelligence Officer and Commando of World War II. He was also an accomplished linguist, author, mariner, navigator, parachutist, diver and skier....
"ran special operations in Norway in World War II... [and] later in the war he joined the future writer, Ian Fleming, as part of a top secret intelligence unit 30 Commando Assault Unit — Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians' in France, Belgium and Germany — often far in advance of Allied lines." While Dalzel-Job never denied being the model for Bond, he stated that he only loved one woman and did not drink.
- Wilfred (Biffy) DunderdaleWilfred DunderdaleWilfred Albert Dunderdale was a British spy and intelligence officer. It has been suggested that Dunderdale was used by Ian Fleming as a basis for the character of James Bond.-Life:...
, a British spy and intelligence officer. He worked for the British Secret Intelligence ServiceSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(MI6) between 1921 and 1959. His work involved liaison with French intelligence (1926–1940) and Polish intelligence (1940–1945) Dunderdale dressed very well, often dined at fine Paris restaurants, and drove an armored Rolls-Royce.
- Conrad O'Brien-ffrenchConrad O'Brien-FfrenchConrad Fulke Thomond O’Brien-ffrench , was a distinguished British Secret Intelligence Officer, Captain in the Tipperary Rangers of the Royal Irish Regiment and 16th The Queen's Lancers in World War I, and Mountie for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
, distinguished British Secret Intelligence Officer, decorated Captain, skier, mountaineer, linguist, world traveler and artist, met Fleming in the 1930s in Austria while working for Claude Dansey’s “Z” network. In 1918, Stewart Menzies recruited Conrad into MI6 who then undertook clandestine missions abroad.
- Peter Fleming, whom his younger brother Ian admired, and who also was a secret agent.
- Commander Alexander "Sandy" GlenAlexander "Sandy" GlenSir Alexander "Sandy" Richard Glen KBE, DSC, , was a Scottish explorer of the Arctic, and wartime intelligence officer...
, a former Arctic explorer who worked with Fleming in Naval Intelligence.
- Possibly Colonel Duane HudsonDuane HudsonColonel Duane Tyrell Hudson DSO OBE was a British SOE officer who fought in Yugoslavia during World War II.Hudson, a mining engineer, was a rugby player, swimmer, rider, skier, boxer, and wrestler. He attended St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown, South Africa. He spoke six foreign languages and...
- Sir Fitzroy Maclean, who was a British secret agent in World War II YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and friend (and biographer) of Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz TitoMarshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
, is often cited as an inspiration. MacLean went to Eton CollegeEton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and like Bond had an Anglo-Scottish background. He was well known for a number of his books such as Eastern ApproachesEastern ApproachesEastern Approaches is an autobiographical account of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. It is divided into three parts: his life as a junior diplomat in Moscow and his travels in the Soviet Union, especially the forbidden zones of Central Asia; his exploits in the British Army and SAS in the...
which detailed his adventures, largely in the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Throughout his life he neither confirmed or denied the rumour that he was the model for James Bond.
- Michael MasonMichael MasonMichael James Mason currently living in Pahiatua is a New Zealand cricketer, born in Carterton. He plays Test and One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He plays domestic cricket for Central Districts...
, another secret agent. Mason came from a wealthy Oxfordshire family but ran away to Canada in his youth, becoming first a fur trapper and then a professional boxer. The outbreak of the Second World War found him working as an agent in Bucharest, in still-neutral Romania, where one of his coups was to kill two Germans who had been sent to assassinate him. They attempted to trap him in the lavatory of a railway carriage and shoot him there, but he outwitted them, broke both their necks and dumped their bodies out of the window. Perhaps significantly, something similar happens on a train in the Balkans in From Russia with Love. (In the case of Mason, the Romanians complained to the British that if their agents had to kill Germans in Romania, they should at least make an effort to hide the bodies.)
- Merlin MinshallMerlin MinshallMerlin Minshall is often claimed to have been one of the inspirations behind James Bond, the fictional spy created by Ian Fleming. Minshall worked for Fleming during the Second World War, as a member of the Royal Navy's Naval Intelligence Division.He wrote about his life in a book entitled...
, was a commander in the RNVR who worked for Fleming as member of the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. In his autobiography Guilt-Edged, he too claimed to have killed a German agent on the Orient Express.
>* Dušan Popov
Dušan Popov
Dušan "Duško" Popov OBE was a double agent working for MI6 during World War II under the cryptonym Tricycle.-Origins of Tricycle:...
, a Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
double-agent of MI6 and Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. Fleming worked in the British naval intelligence during the Second World War and trailed Popov who, having been "known for his irresistible charm and his superb work as a spy", eventually got recruited by the British
- Sidney ReillySidney ReillyLieutenant Sidney George Reilly, MC , famously known as the Ace of Spies, was a Jewish Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service Bureau and later the Secret Intelligence Service . He is alleged to have spied for at least four nations...
is listed as an inspiration for James Bond in Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond by Andrew Lycett. Reilly was a secret agentSecret AgentSecret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
for Scotland Yard'sScotland YardScotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
Special BranchSpecial BranchSpecial Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
and the BritishUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
Secret Service Bureau, which was founded in 1909. In 1918, Reilly was employed by Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming as an operative for "MI1(c)," an early designation for the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Secret Intelligence ServiceSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
. His exploits were glorified by a 1980s mini-series, Reilly: Ace of SpiesReilly, Ace of SpiesReilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 television miniseries dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian Jew who became one of the greatest spies to ever work for the British. Among his exploits in the early 20th century were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of...
. Reilly's friend Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart knew Fleming for many years and told him of Reilly's espionage adventures.
- The notorious playboy Porfirio RubirosaPorfirio RubirosaPorfirio Rubirosa Ariza was a Dominican diplomat and adherent of Rafael Trujillo. He made his mark as an international playboy, for his jet setting lifestyle, and his legendary prowess with women...
has been named as an inspiration for James Bond.
- Most notable was William StephensonWilliam StephensonSir William Samuel Stephenson, CC, MC, DFC was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid...
, who was a CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
spymaster, best known by his code nameCode nameA code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
, Intrepid. Stephenson was the senior representative of British Intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His first service number was 38007. Regarding him, Ian Fleming wrote in The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, October 21, 1962: "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is... William Stephenson".
Although other names have been mentioned by the media, none have ever been confirmed by Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications
Ian Fleming Publications
Ian Fleming Publications is the production company formerly known as both Glidrose Productions Limited and Glidrose Publications Limited, named after its founders John Gliddon and Norman Rose...
or Fleming's assistant and friend, John Pearson
John Pearson (author)
John Pearson is a writer best associated with James Bond creator Ian Fleming.Pearson was Fleming's assistant at the London Sunday Times and would go on to write the first biography of Ian Fleming, 1966's The Life of Ian Fleming....
. In the view of Andrew Lycett, Fleming's biographer, Bond probably owes something to both Mason and Dunderdale, and possibly also "Sandy" Glen. Of all the former agents who have been linked, or have claimed to be linked, with Bond, these are the "best bets," he says.
When asked to suggest an actor to portray Bond on screen, Ian Fleming mentioned Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
.
007 inspirations
The 007 number assigned to James Bond may have been influenced by any number of sources. In the films and novels, the 00 prefix indicates Bond's discretionary 'licence to killLicence to kill (concept)
Licence to kill is a literary device used in espionage fiction. It refers to the official sanction by a government or government agency to a particular operative or employee to initiate the use of lethal force in the delivery of their objectives...
', in executing his duties.
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
wrote a short story entitled ".007: The Story of an American Locomotive".007".007" is a short story by Rudyard Kipling. It is a story in which steam locomotives are characters , somewhat like the later, more well-known tales of The Railway Series.-Publication:The story first appeared in Scribner's Magazine in August 1897, and was collected with...
, in which anthropomorphized train locomotives talk about their work and problems; the story has nothing to do with espionage, but Kipling's work would have been very popular during Fleming's youth and he could well have been familiar with the title. Kipling was also the author of "KimKim (novel)Kim is a picaresque novel by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901...
", a popular and influential spy novel also about an orphanOrphanAn orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
spy.
- Another version of the origins of the number 007 is that it is the number of the coach service from Deal in KentDeal, KentDeal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
to LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, passing by Higham Park, where Ian Fleming spent much time, and where he was inspired to write his children's novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
- It is also said that Bond borrowed his 007 title from Dr John DeeJohn Dee (mathematician)John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
. The 16th-century English secret agent used the code for his messages to Queen Elizabeth I. The two zeros meant "for your eyes only", or the 007 formed a pictograph that looked like a pair of spectacles meaning that Dee was acting as the queen's eyes.
- It has been alleged that there was a Soviet assassination unit known as "double zero" or "double oh".
- In Eton CollegeEton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
's annual school magazine, Fleming's achievement of being crowned victor ludorum was listed on page 7, some say that the number was significant to him because of this.
- James Bond is called James Bond 007 because initially he was on a mission to Russia and the ISD code for Russia is 007.
Cinematic inspirations
Although the cinematic James Bond is obviously based on the literary form, they are different, and many feel, especially that of the crew of the first few films, that Terence Young was the major inspiration for bringing the character to life on the big screen. Young was the director of Dr. NoDr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
, From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
, and Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
.
External links
- 30 Commando Assault Unit - Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians' - Literary James Bond's Wartime Unit
- Bond Inspiration Dies
- Sir Fitzroy, the original James Bond, is dead
- Scots adventurer was never a spy, reveals widow
- The Real James Bond (on Fleming himself)
- Patrick Dalzel-Job
- A Yugoslavian spy inspired Fleming to create JB?
- Who Created James Bond, Robert Cotton
- The name's Dunderdale, Biffy Dunderdale
- MI6 News - Media Alert - His name was Popov, Dusko Popov...
- IMDb Plot summary for True Bond - Dusko Popov
- Ian Fleming at Camp-X - Fact or Fiction?
- Conrad Fulke O'Brien-ffrench. Artist and Spy