New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020
nypost.com
off. Doctors were able to reattach
the limb, but Jordan ultimately
chose amputation, saying it
didn’t “feel quite right.” Ever the
trouper, Jordan went right back
to work on the next film, “On
Her Majesty’s Secret Service,”
with a prosthetic foot.
But that 1969 movie featured an
entirely different man wielding
the Walther PPK: George
Lazenby. That suave Australian
landed the most famous role in
cinema... by lying to everybody.
A 28-year-old model with zero
acting experience, Lazenby
visited Connery’s tailor on the
sly to get a suit to make him look
like the Scot in order to impress
producers Albert “Cubby”
Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.
Lazenby handed them a fake
résumé, auditioned and got
the part.
“I had a meeting with Peter
Hunt [the director] and told him
I didn’t tell the truth,” Lazenby
told The Post in 2017. Hunt had a
surprising response.
“ ‘You say you can’t act? You
fooled two of the most ruthless
men I’ve ever met in my life,’ ”
Lazenby recalled Hunt saying of
Broccoli and Saltzman. “ ‘Stick to
your story, and I’ll make you the
next James Bond.’ ”
He did, and Lazenby hated it.
As the late-’60s counterculture
was revving up, the actor grew a
very un-Bond-like beard for the
movie’s premiere, much to his
producers’ chagrin, and then left
the series forever.
Four years later, when 45-year-
old Roger Moore took over after
Connery’s last outing, “Diamonds
Are Forever,” he was already a bit
long in the tooth to play an action
spy. So, after Moore’s contract
expired, James Brolin was screen-
tested for “Octopussy” and was
set to become the first American
Bond. But Moore ultimately
chose to stick it out in the tux till
the ripe old age of 57, hitting on
hotties and snowboarding in
front of green screens for two
more movies. Critics constantly
chided him for it.
“It’s not double-oh-seven
anymore, but double-oh-seventy,
the best argument yet for the
mandatory retirement age,” a
Washington Post critic said of
Moore’s final turn as Bond, “A
View to a Kill,” in 1985.
“He was kissing leading ladies
when they were in their 20s!”
his son, Geoffrey Moore, told
the Daily Mail, referring to29-year-old “View” co-star
Tanya Roberts.
Pierce Brosnan’s four films in
the ’90s and aughts weren’t as
scandalous as some of his fore-
bears, but there was a nasty inci-
dent involving a fig.
While filming a sex scene for
“Die Another Day,” a scantily
clad Halle Berry started choking
on the fruit.
“Suddenly, there was no soundcoming out,” Brosnan told Esquire.
“She was waving her arms and I
was banging her on the back. I
was about to put my arms around
her and start doing the Heimlich
maneuver, but the both of us were
kind of naked... I was certainly in
no position to give the Heimlich to
Halle at that moment.”
Berry lived to die another day.
“No Time To Die” is said to be
Craig’s final Bond film after a
14-year run. Whether or not that
turns out to be true, when it
comes to outrageous behavior,
007 will always score a perfect 10.
[email protected]SHAKEN AND STIRRED
From BOND on Page 33Sean Connery hurt
his back while
filming “Goldfinger.”
But in this scene
from the 1964
movie, co-star
Margaret Nolan
does her best to
make it feel better.p
George Lazenby was a one-off Bond in “On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service.” He grew a beard for the premiere in 1969.Halle Berry
choked on a
fig in 2002’s
“Die
Another
Day.” That
wasn’t in
the script.Getty ImagesWatching BonD
You won’t be able to see the
new James Bond film, “No
Time To Die,” in theaters
until Nov. 25, but that still
leaves you with 24 movies
to catch up with on the
couch. Here’s the best from
each 007 actor.
For Sean Connery, “Gold-
finger” (on Amazon) is a
must. George Lazenby’s
only outing, “On Her Maj-
esty’s Secret Service” (on
Amazon), is an underrated
gem. And as silly as Roger
Moore can be, his “The Spy
Who Loved Me” (on Ama-
zon) ranks among the all-
time best Bond films. You
don’t hear much about
“The Living Daylights” (on
Amazon), but Timothy
Dalton’s first flick is solid.
All four Pierce Brosnan
films (“GoldenEye,” “Tomor-
row Never Dies,” “The
World Is Not Enough” and
“Die Another Day”) are
available to stream on
Netflix. That leaves you
with one good option:
“GoldenEye.” And then
there’s Daniel Craig’s best
entry so far, “Casino Roy-
ale,” which is streaming on
HBO Go and Amazon.