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Authors: Roger Moore

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_______________________

BOND

ON

BEGINNINGS

_______________________

Bonded by success: Harry Saltzman (right), Ian Fleming and Cubby Broccoli pose for a photo after signing their agreement to produce the first James Bond film in 1962.

BOND ON BEGINNINGS

A
s I write I am sitting in Monte Carlo with my wife Kristina. The sweltering sun is beating down upon us as we sip our early-morning coffee, slip on our dark glasses and watch the millionaires – and billionaires – passing by in their designer clothes, their fast cars and on their yachts, while their luscious lady friends, all potential Bond girls, are busy sunning themselves on the terraces at the Monte Carlo Beach Club. It is a very ‘Bondian’ setting in which to write a book, though I feel I should start by confessing it wasn’t until 1962 that I first heard mention of James Bond – some eight or nine years after Ian Fleming had started writing his hugely popular books – but they, and he, had somehow passed me by.

The birth of an icon: a very early publicity shot of Sean Connery as 007.

WILL HE, WON’T HE?

Following a spell in Hollywood, where two studio contracts were swiftly followed by a plane ticket home, in 1960 I wound up in Rome, making a couple of what you might call ‘miracle-movies’. That is to say, it was a miracle if anyone got to see them.

My agent, Dennis Van Thal, called while I was in Venice gorging my face on a favourite dish of black pasta, flavoured with a little garlic, shallots and with a decent handful of prosciutto, all complemented by a glass of Pinot Grigio on the terrace of the Gritti Palace Hotel, which itself sits on the banks of the picturesque Grand Canal. Very Flemingesque, eh?

Dennis had received an offer from British television mogul Lew Grade for me to play Simon Templar in a television series of
The Saint
. I was immediately and greatly interested because I knew those books and had, in fact, at one point made an – unsuccessful – approach to their author, Leslie Charteris, to buy the rights.

To cut a long story short, I accepted the contract and found myself back in England with a regular salary jingling away in my pocket.

A little financial security is always a good thing for an insecure actor, and with it I soon began behaving in a Bond-like fashion by visiting the tables of the gaming houses in London’s Curzon Street. It was there I first met two larger-than-life, and obviously affluent, American gentlemen who introduced themselves as producers Harry Saltzman (a Canadian) and Cubby Broccoli (an American of Italian descent). Over the ensuing months we exchanged a fair amount of casino money across the table, but moreover developed a close friendship, which lasted the rest of their lives.

It had to start somewhere! A few covers of Ian Fleming’s books, which I’m assured all sell for more than 2 shillings and 6 pence these days. Interesting that I’m on the cover of
Dr. No
– even though a well known Scottish actor was in the film.

 

They were then just setting out on producing a series of films about ‘James Bond’. That was the very first time I’d heard the name. Cubby and Harry told me about agent 007 and invited me to the first screening of
Dr. No
and, later, all the other Sean Connery Bond films, at their Mayfair headquarters, Eon Productions in South Audley Street. I was greatly enlightened, entertained and captivated by the good Commander and his amazing exploits.

I was big in Birmingham. A ticket stub for a first-night screening.

 

Photocall on the roof of London’s Dorchester Hotel, announcing me as the new James Bond with director Guy Hamilton on the left, Cubby Broccoli in the middle and Harry Saltzman on the right. Note how Harry’s looking at my hair, wondering how many inches I should lose.

The Saint
, meanwhile, happily ran and ran. In fact I clocked up 118 episodes over seven years. It was towards the end of the penultimate series in 1967–8 that the idea of me playing Jimmy Bond was first mooted. Sean Connery had completed
You Only Live Twice
and stated that it was to be his last. Keen to keep the franchise afloat, the producers started thinking about recasting. They must have heard I worked cheap.

With my dear friend Lew Grade, who told me that playing Bond would ruin my career.

Producer Harry Saltzman called. ‘Let’s talk about you doing Bond.’

Producers, writers and agents’ discussions commenced around an adventure set in Cambodia. Unfortunately, very soon afterwards all hell broke loose in that country and the production was shelved. With uncertainty about what might happen, and with the prospect of another – financially appealing – series of
The Saint
looming, I returned to film what would be my last season of the show.

I was expected to do everything! On location for
The Man With The Golden Gun.

Keen to get back into movies, I simultaneously began developing a couple of projects with my
Saint
producing partner Bob Baker, one of which –
Crossplot
– we filmed with funding from United Artists, the backers of the Bond movies. I then became an actor-for-hire in
The Man Who Haunted Himself
for Bryan Forbes at EMI, before teaming up with Bob Baker again to star in, occasionally direct, and produce a TV series called
The Persuaders!.
Oh, and thanks to my friendship with Cary Grant I also took up an executive position at Brut Films to oversee a few rather successful productions, including the Oscar-winning
A Touch Of Class
.

BOOK: Bond On Bond
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