Biographic - Sunday April 29, 2012 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

50 Years of 007 2012 marks the 50th Anniversary of the start of one of the most popular and successful franchises in movie history. 1962's low-budget "Dr. No" brought author Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond, 007, to the screen for the first time, with 32-year-old scotsman Sean Connery in the lead role. Three further adaptations of the Fleming novels followed in yearly succession- "From Russia With Love" "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" speaking worldwide catapulting Sean Connery to global superstardom. Following 1967's "You Only Live Twice" Connery refused to sign for a sixth outing as Bond, so a search was launched for a replacement to star in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." The producer's chose Australian model George Lazenby, whose previous acting high point was in a British tv commercial for a chocolate bar! Following that movie, Connery was persuaded to reprise the role one more time before TV star Roger Moore took over the reins. Moore appeared in seven James Bond movies between 1973 and 1985. Roger Moore was followed in there by welsh actor Tomothy Dalton, whose two-movie tenure saw a return to a darker, less frivolous depiction. Irish Pierce Brosnan took the franchise to even greater box-office success with the next four movies in the series, beginning with "Goldeneye" in 1995. Daniel Craig was cast on Bond in 2006's "Casino Royale," and the movie's huge success pushed the box-office earnings of the series past the $4 billion mark! Following 2008's "Quantum of Solace" Craig will return for his third outing as 007 in his year's 23rd James Bond movie, "Skyfall."

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