OCTOBER 5, 1962 - Dr. No, the first film in the on-going James Bond series, opened in theaters. Dr. No starred Sean Connery as 007 and has grossed over $59 million in worldwide revenue. Since Dr. No there have been 23 Bond movies made with six different actors taking the role as the most recognizable International Man of Mystery. The 22 films that have been released have generated $4.9 billion in ticket sales. The 23rd Bond movie, Skyfall, will be released in U.S. theaters on November 9, 2012. You can view a montage of several Bond movies here. 

 

 

Six different actors have played the ever-suave James Bond. While many consider Sean Connery to be the most recognizable Bond, Roger Moore actually has more credits to his name. Here is a list of the actors and how the films in which they took the lead:

 

Sean Connery 

Dr. No (1962)

From Russia with Love (1963)

Goldfinger (1964)

Thunderball (1965)

You Only Live Twice (1967)

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)  

George Lazenby 

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)  

Roger Moore

Live and Let Die (1973)

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Moonraker (1979)

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

Octopussy (1983)

A View to a Kill (1985)  

Timothy Dalton

The Living Daylights (1987)

Licence to Kill (1989)  

Pierce Brosnan

GoldenEye (1995)

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Die Another Day (2002)  

Daniel Craig 

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Skyfall (2012)

 

   

James Bond, Ornithologist and 007's namesake.

English author Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels from which the movies are based on. When asked about why he chose the name James Bond for his character Fleming explained "I wanted to find a name which wouldn't have any romantic overtones. I wanted a really flat quiet name." Fleming, who was an active bird watcher, described seeing the book Birds of the West Indies on his table and noticing that the author's name was James Bond. Fleming said, "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born."  

 

 

With a license to kill James Bond is no stranger to violence. In fact over the course of the series Bond has taken out a total of 220 bad guys. While he has used a variety of weapons and methods to eliminate his opposition, ranging from harpoons to surface-to-air missiles to throwing an electric fan into a bathtub, Bond's most famous weapon of choice is the Walther PPK.

 

 

James Bond is the ultimate ladies man and the women he encounters tend to have unusual names which are often puns or double entendres. Bond's recurring, yet seemingly platonic, love interest is Miss Moneypenny, the secretary for Bond's boss M. Here are a few of the other uniquely named Bond girls:

 

Honey Ryder (Dr. No)

Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)

Kissy Suzuki (You Only Live Twice)

Plenty O'Toole (Diamonds Are Forever)

Solitaire (Live and Let Die)

Mary Goodnight (The Man with the Golden Gun)

Holly Goodhead (Moonraker)

Octopussy (Octopussy)

Jenny Flex (A View to Kill)

Xenia Onatopp (GoldenEye)

Christmas Jones (The World is Not Enough)

Jinx (Die Another Day)

Vesper Lynd (Casino Royale)

Strawberry Fields (Quantum of Solace)