News Unlimited

James Bond 007, is a fictional British spy created by writer
Ian Fleming in 1952. Fleming wrote numerous novels and
short stories based upon the character and, after his death in
1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley
Amis (pseudonym 'Robert Markham'), John Pearson, John
Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Charlie Higson. In addition,
Christopher Wood wrote two screenplay novelisations and
other authors have also written various unofficial permutations
of the character.
Although initially made famous through the novels, James Bond is now best known from the EON Productions film
series. Twenty-one films have been made (as of 2006) as well as two that were independently produced and one
American
television adaptation of Fleming's first novel under legal licence. The EON films are generally referred to as the
'official' films (although its origin is unclear, this terminology is used throughout this article). Albert R. (Cubby)
Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced most of these up until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. From
1995, his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, jointly continued production duties.
To date, six actors have portrayed James Bond in the official series. They are:
Sean Connery (1962–67; 1971)
George Lazenby (1969),
Roger Moore (1973–85),
Timothy Dalton (1987–89),
Pierce Brosnan (1995–2002),
Daniel Craig (2006–).
In addition, and generally considered 'unofficial', Barry Nelson portrayed Bond in an Americanised television episode
adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. Bob Holness portrayed James Bond in a South African radio adaptation of
Moonraker in 1956. David Niven played the role of James Bond in a non-EON production of Casino Royale in 1967,
and Connery reprised the character in another non-EON film, Never Say Never Again in 1983.
The twenty-first official film, Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as James Bond, is in post-production and the World
premiere is scheduled... [continues]

Read full essay