Ben Whishaw, who was introduced as gadget master Q in Daniel Craig’s third outing as 007, was born on 14th October 1980.
Prior to Skyfall, Whishaw appeared in Layer Cake, also staring Daniel Craig and played Sebastian Flyte in a film adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, as well as a variety of other roles in film, TV and theatre, including the voice of Paddington Bear.
Fiona Fullerton, who played Pola Ivanova in A View to a Kill was born in Nigeria on 10th October 1956.
Freddie Young, who was responsible for the cinematography on You Only Live Twice, was born on 9th October 1902 in London.
Young was the first British cinematographer to film in CinemaScope, and as well as his work on 007 he won the cinematography Oscar three times for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Ryan’s Daughter, all directed by David Lean.
The first James Bond film went on UK general release on 8th October 1962, three days after it premiered at the London Pavilion. Directed by Terence Young, Dr No starred Sean Connery as 007 and introduced some of the elements that we still associate with James Bond today.
George Baker, who appeared in three James Bond films, died on 7th October 2011.
Baker was uncredited in You Only Live Twice as a NASA engineer, but in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service played Sir Hilary Bray, and then Captain Benson in The Spy Who Loved Me. Baker also dubbed George Lazenby’s voice in the scenes in which Bond is impersonating the heraldry expert in Piz Gloria.
Britt Ekland, who played Mary Goodnight opposite Roger Moore in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), was born on 6th October 1942 in Stockholm.
Vic Armstrong, who worked on the Bond films first as a stuntman during You Only Live Twice (1967), stunt double and as stunt coordinator on a variety of films, was born in Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire on 5th October 1946.
Armstrong also worked on the Superman films with Christopher Reeves, doubled Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones series, directed the second unit on many other films and TV shows and as a first unit director. According to the Guinness Book of Records he is the world’s most prolific stunt double.