While it has long been known that Sean Connery was not Ian Fleming’s first choice to play James Bond, it has just been revealed that things were far worse than anyone ever knew. During an October 15 interview with the South Bank Show, Connery told interviewer Melvin Bragg that he had “little time” for Fleming and that 007′s creator was initially angered that a “working class Scot” had earned the role.

Sean Connery and Ian Fleming on the set of Dr. No

These recent revelations come on the heels of another 50 year old secret: that Ian Fleming had a list of seven actors for the part including Cary Grant and David Niven, but not Connery. In fact, according to Connery, he and Fleming never met until they were on the set of Dr. No. After running through a list of his preferences, they came to Connery because they “couldn’t afford most of the people they wanted.”

This is all especially interesting, as Fleming certainly warmed up to Connery during his final years of life, to the extent that in his final Bond novels Fleming gave 007 a Scottish background.

According to the Daily Express:
Now Sir Sean has revealed more about tension behind the scenes as cameras started rolling on the first Bond film in 1961. In an interview with Melvin Bragg to be shown on the South Bank Show on Wednesday, Sir Sean says he had little time for the secret agent’s creator.

He says: “I never got introduced to Fleming until I was well into the movie but I know he was not happy with me as the choice.

“What was it he called me, or told somebody? That I was an over-developed stunt man. He never said it to me. When I did eventually meet him he was very interesting, erudite and a snob – a real snob.

“But his company was very good for a limited time for me.”

Fleming’s first choice of actor to play 007 in Dr No, the first Bond book to reach the big screen, was Cary Grant – but he was too expensive. David Niven, James Mason, Patrick McGoohan, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton and Stewart Granger were also on his list. Niven turned down the role because he felt he was too old.

Sir Sean, who confesses he was surprised to get the part, says: “They couldn’t afford most of the people they wanted. That was the start. They were seeing people, they were advertising in the papers. Then they brought me in to see them and they wanted me.”

Sir Sean’s performance won Fleming over and in later books he gave 007 a partly Scots ancestry. Sir Sean tells the South Bank Show he was convinced that the Bond movies were doomed to failure.

“Anybody that says it was going to be a success is lying. I must say that from the beginning. I think about it quite a bit. If I see it on a screen I think, yeah, they could have done this better or that better.”

He says he believes now that the series can continue for years. “The ingredients are all there for a kind of movie that people want to see. It’s very good, entertaining value. It’s a spectrum of actors, from myself to Daniel Craig, who I thought was fantastic in the role.”

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At the ‘Story Of James Bond’ Ian Fleming tribute at the London Palladium, Roger Moore was reunited on stage with 8 former Bond Girls including Maryam D’Abo, Madeleine Smith, Shirley Eaton, Zena Marshall, Eunice Gayson, Tania Mallett, Caroline Munro and Joanna Lumley. The Sun has a great photo of the event, as seen below:

Roger Moore and 8 Former Bond Girls

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Recently declassified documents have revealed that Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, may have actually helped save MI6 during and after World War II.

According to Press Trust of India:

Ian Fleming - Creator of James Bond, 007

The creator of famous fictional hero James Bond 007 saved MI6 from breaking up in reality by suggesting that “new blood” be brought into the British spy agency, de-classified documents have revealed.
Yes, long before he created Bond, author Ian Fleming rescued MI6 from an untimely death by inadvertently paving the way for the secret service to be infiltrated by members of the Russian KGB’s Cambridge ring, its most destructive traitors, according to the newly released documents.

In fact, the story dates back to the Second World War when British naval chiefs lobbied wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill to let them start their own rival espionage service after an army officer was put in charge of MI6 which had traditionally been led by a navy officer.

Now, the secret files, released after more than 60 years, have revealed that Fleming — who was then the British Navy’s liaison officer with MI6 — steered them away from the idea, warning that if the spy agency was downgraded there was “a grave danger of letting the baby out with the bath water”.

“I think that the infusion of new blood into the existing organisation would be better than chopping off hoary but experienced heads,” Fleming had suggested.

And, his suggestion, dated April 1940, that Britain should instead insert some “new blood” into MI6 to change the agency from within was also accepted by naval chiefs, leading newspaper ‘The Sunday Times’ reported. PTI

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Daniel Craig caused a brew-ha-ha at the ‘Story Of James Bond’ Ian Fleming tribute at the London Palladium sporting a gray and scruffy beard and a cast on his arm. Critics have slammed Craig for looking “frail.”

Daniel Craig Sports Scruff and a Cast

“Daniel Craig caused a stir at an Ian Fleming tribute event when he arrived looking more like a vagabond than James Bond. A greying beard heavily aged the latest actor to play 007 who was sporting a sling to support a fractured arm.

The name is Bond… vaga-Bond. Daniel Craig looks unusually scruffy. Unlike his character, he looked frail as he was accompanied by his long-term partner Satsuki Mitchell. Craig, who’s portrayal of the secret agent in Casino Royale won critical acclaim and was nominated for a Bafta Award, was attending a ‘Story Of James Bond’ evening, a tribute to Ian Fleming, held at the London Palladium.

Craig arrives with his partner Satsuki Mitchell carrying his arm in a sling which may have been injured during filming of Quantum of Solace. Craig recently suffered a bruised eye and a fractured arm which happened while shooting the final scenes of the film.

He said last month: “I’m pushing myself as hard as I can. I’ve had black eyes, cuts, bruises. I even injured my Achilles.

“Jumping from great heights hurts a lot, but I did that quite often. As a kid, I actually wanted to be a stuntman because I liked falling off my bike. I was always bleeding.”

To read more, please visit the source: TheDaily Mall.

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