Category: Dates

Pierce Brosnan was born on this day in 1953. He starred as James Bond in a total of four films starting with Goldeneye in 1995.

Pierce Brosnan, who starred as James Bond in a total of four films starting with Goldeneye (1995), was born in Ireland on 16th May 1953.

Brosnan first caught Cubby Broccoli’s eye when he visited the set of For Your Eyes Only with his wife, Cassandra Harris, who played Countess Lisl von Shlaf in the film. When the role of 007 fell vacant after Roger Moore quit the series Brosnan was offered the role after his TV show, Remington Steele,  was cancelled.

Because of the publicity surrounding Brosnan’s about to be confirmed contract to play Bond the TV show was renewed the day prior to Brosnan being officially introduced as 007 and instead Timothy Dalton was offered the role.

After a six year hiatus caused by legal wrangling between Danjaq and MGM Dalton elected not to return for a third Bond movie. Instead Brosnan was finally signed and made his debut as James Bond in Goldeneye (1995), followed by Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).

Although he was extremely popular as Bond and widely expected to return for a fifth film, Pierce Brosnan was dropped from the role when the producers decided to make Casino Royale and reboot the series.

Joseph Wiseman, who played Dr Julius No in the first James Bond film, was born in Montreal, Canada on this day in 1918. Although he preferred to be remembered for his stage career, today he is best known for playing the first Bond villain.

 

Vic Flick, the guitarist who played the iconic riff on the James Bond Theme as part of John Barry’s Orchestra, was born in Surrey on this day in 1937. On the original recording for Dr No Flick played a English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar through a Vox AC15 amp.