The Many Lives of James Bond

by Mark Edlitz

  Bob Holness, circa the 1950s.

  PERSONAL COLLECTION OF ROS HOLNESS

  In the correspondence, Holness explains why he didn’t play Bond on the radio after Moonraker. Holness writes that the broadcast was “a great success but when enquiries were made about the possibility of doing another adaptation we were told that there were plans to turn a novel into a film and they wanted to see how that went. The rest, as they say, is history.”53

  Although Holness hadn’t heard of James Bond before Moonraker, the actor developed some affection for the character. Holness told McKaig that he has subsequently “read one or two of the earlier novels though and enjoyed them a great deal.”54 As far as the cinematic Bond, Holness explained, “When my children were younger I would take them to the cinema to see the latest Bond release but we all agree that after Sean Connery it was never the same.”55

  Holness, the first radio Bond, didn’t seem envious of Connery, the first movie Bond. He recounted, “As far as playing Bond on the big screen, it never occurred to me to try. My strength lay, not really in acting, but in presenting and I was very happy to stay in that field.”56 Later, Holness found success hosting the game show Blockbusters in England from 1983 to 1994, an eleven-year run.

  The letter to McKaig provides valuable context to the adaptation and to Holness’s role in it. However, it does not provide us with all the answers. Holness lamented, “I’m afraid that I have no idea who adapted the novel for radio, how the rights were obtained or who else was in the cast.”57 Holness also indicated that he did not know exactly when Moonraker was performed: “I think that the recording was made in 1958 although I can’t be sure.”58 Holness, underestimating the importance of his letter, sweetly added, “I fear I’ve been little help with regard to giving you specific information.”59

  It’s problematic to write about Holness as Bond because, as previously indicated, his performance was not believed to have been preserved. Moreover, aside from the previously unpublished letter to Brian McKaig, there is little reliable information about SABC’s radio adaptation of Moonraker. However, because I wanted to acknowledge Holness’s contribution to the franchise and discover more information, I contacted his daughter Ros Holness, a member the pop group Toto Coelo, whose song “I Eat Cannibals” was a hit in the 1980s.

  Ros confided to me that she made a discovery that provides new information about Holness’s stint as Bond. Ros explained: “A while ago, whilst sorting papers in my late father’s study, I stumbled upon a book of contracts that I’d never seen before. One of these contracts was particularly interesting as it was the one issued when Bob agreed to play James Bond in Moonraker.”

  Ros had originally planned to present this document herself but she has allowed me to include it in this book. Ros’s discovery is noteworthy because it gives us critical new information about the adaptation. Before she found the document, even the most basic facts about the broadcast could not be corroborated—even the year was unknown.

  The contract was prepared by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and it was made out to “Mr. R. [Robert] Holness.” The contract reads: “We offer you an engagement to play the part of James Bond in “Moonraker” by Ian Fleming.”

  The contract also tells us that the novel was “adapted by Hugh Rouse.” Hugh Rouse would later go on to become a popular broadcaster on South African radio. Rouse also narrated The Avengers radio program from 1965 to 1969 and acted in and narrated many other radio shows.60 [Note: Given Rouse’s experience, it’s possible that, in addition to adapting Moonraker, he also served as its narrator, just as Martin Jarvis was the director and narrator of BBC Radio 4’s eight Bond dramatizations.]

  Thanks to Ros, we now know that the performance took place from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm on January 30, 1958. From the date of the performance listed on the contract, we can also determine that Holness was twenty-nine years old when he played James Bond. Holness was also required to participate in three rehearsals, which were held on January 26 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm and on January 28 and 29 from 5:10 pm to 10:00 pm. The date of the agreement is January 23, just seven days before Holness was set to play 007, and three days before rehearsals were to commence. For his work as the first Bond on the radio, Holness was paid a fee of £11, which, adjusted for inflation, is about £252, or $326.

  Although neither the letter nor the contract gives us all the details about the 1958 Moonraker radio play, taken together they help solidify Bob Holness’s legacy as Bond. It should be noted that the contract also has sentimental value to Ros. She touchingly explained, “The contract is all I have as proof that Bob Holness was the first ever James Bond.”

  In the following interview, Ros gives her perspective on her father’s contribution to the Bond legacy.

  What do you know about how your father cast as James Bond?

  Bob was part of a group of actors who were employed to perform in a radio repertory company for the South African Broadcasting Corporation. They offered him an “engagement” to play the part of James Bond in Moonraker, which was adapted by a South African man called Hugh Rouse. The company did weekly live performances for the “English service.” My mother was also part of the company. Her stage name was Mary Rose Clifford. She married my father in 1955. [They remained together until Holness died at the age of eighty-three. It appears that Clifford did not perform in Moonraker.]

  What do you know about the production?

  Bob Holness’s Moonraker contract.

  PERSONAL COLLECTION OF ROS HOLNESS

  The producer was a man named John Jackson. When John asked Bob if he would play James Bond, Bob was thrilled to do so. Incidentally, John Jackson and his wife Jean became good friends of the family and, in 1961, we all returned to England on the same ship, the Stirling Castle. Towards the end of his life, I questioned John about the recording but he didn’t remember it specifically.

  It’s my understanding that there is no known recording of the radio drama.

  Sadly, in those days the rep performances were done live and, as far as we know, it was not recorded. It was one of many radio dramas that my parents acted in that were rehearsed for about four to five hours a day over three half-days and then performed live on air.

  What would he have brought to the role?

  Bob was always a charming man with a great sense of style. He had humor and a good brain, but he wasn’t overly keen on violence. He was also a great dresser but, of course, that was irrelevant when working in radio.

  Did he ever express the desire for another opportunity to play Bond?

  The production of Moonraker was well received and so the producer asked the Fleming estate if they could try another one of his works. They told him they’d been approached by someone who wanted to make a film and that if it wasn’t a success they’d get back to him and talk more. Well, we all know what happened next.

  What did your father think about being James Bond?

  Although we all think it was incredibly cool, my mother says that Bob just took it in stride. He loved acting and put his all into every character he played.

  Did Bond fans seek him out?

  I don’t think they really did back then [when Moonraker first aired], but they certainly did in later days when word got around that he was the first actor ever to play James Bond. Then we had numerous requests for photos and autographs.

  You said your dad was the “first” actor to play James Bond, not the second. Can you elaborate on that?

  At some point in the UK, it was announced that Bob had been the first ever James Bond. Some people have contested this by saying he was the second. But Bond experts have noted that although Barry Nelson had played a character called Jimmy Bond in 1954, he wasn’t a true Bond since he was portrayed as an American agent working for “Combined Intelligence Agency” or the CIA. Therefore, Bob Holness can officially be recognized as the first performer to play James Bond!

  DAVID NIVEN IS JAMES BOND

  As told by his son David Niven Jr.


  Although David Niven isn’t closely associated with James Bond, the charismatic actor’s influence on Bond’s legacy can be felt in myriad ways. Niven, of course, played Sir James Bond in 1967’s Casino Royale, a movie that has little in common with Fleming’s 1953 novel, the 1954 TV adaptation, or the 2006 Eon-produced movie. In the comedy, and in order to confuse the enemy, SMERSH, a number of operatives are assigned the name James Bond, including agents (Terence Cooper, Daliah Lavi, and Ursula Andress), Bond’s daughter (Joanna Pettet), Miss Money-penny’s daughter (Barbara Bouchet), and a baccarat expert (Peter Sellers) recruited to separate the villain Le Chiffre (Orson Welles) from his wealth. Along the way, the spies encounter 007’s nebbishy nephew Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen).

  The film features Burt Bacharach’s Academy Award–nominated music and was directed by John Huston, Val Guest, Robert Parrish, Joseph McGrath, Ken Hughes, and Richard Talmadge, who performed uncredited work on the over-the-top finale. Niven captured the spirit of the spoof when he told Life magazine that it was “impossible to find out what we are doing.”61

  As the second cinematic Bond, Niven’s restrained performance was an effective and welcome counterbalance to the absurd, madcap, and occasionally incomprehensible mayhem. At the premiere, Niven cheekily described Casino Royale as “a hodgepodge of nonsense, hardly a critic’s film” while simultaneously predicting that it would be a hit.62 Niven was correct: reportedly made for $12 million, Casino Royale earned more than $41 million worldwide.63

  Niven’s influence on the Bond legacy predates his sole appearance as Bond and extends beyond it. Niven, a former member of the British army, and Ian Fleming, a former member of Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division, were friends. As an affectionate acknowledgment of their relationship, Fleming refers to Niven in 1964’s You Only Live Twice. In the novel, Kissy Suzuki, a former actress who eventually becomes pregnant with Bond’s child, names her pet bird “after the only man I liked in Hollywood…. He was called David Niven. He is a famous actor and producer.”64 Later, Suzuki elaborates on her feelings about the English gentleman. “They were all disgusting to me in Hollywood. They thought that because I am a Japanese I am some sort of animal and that my body is for everyone. Nobody treated me honourably except this Niven.”65

  The Niven references do not end here. Fleming depicts Bond as a fan of Niven. Fleming writes that Bond feeds the bird “in exchange for the pleasure he has given me in his other incarnation.”66 [It seems that Niven returned the favor in the television series The Rogue (1964–1965), in which he played a con man whose surname is Fleming.]

  David Niven, one of Ian Fleming’s choices to play Bond.

  PHOTOFEST

  The joke, meant as a tribute to Niven, also provides another glimpse into Bond’s character. Moreover, it’s amusing to imagine Bond, alone in a darkened movie theater, watching Niven in Separate Tables (1958), The Guns of Navarone (1961), or 55 Days in Peking (1963), which I can only assume are Bond’s preferred Niven movies. I have a harder time envisioning the sometimes-snobbish Bond buying a ticket to see Niven playing a cat burglar opposite Peter Sellers’s bungling Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the comedy The Pink Panther (1963), which was released a year before You Only Live Twice was published.

  We should not read too much into the Niven reference, but Fleming’s inclination for name-checking real people and brands is a vital part of his writing. In an unrelated letter to Harry Saltzman, Fleming explained his thinking: “I have personally found that the use of branded names in my stories helps the verisimilitude, so long as the producers are quality products.”67 The same reasoning would seemingly hold true for Fleming’s decision to make Bond admire Niven’s work.

  Bond is a fan of Niven, and the feeling was apparently mutual. According to Fergus Fleming in The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming’s James Bond Letters, a collection of Ian Fleming’s correspondence with his friends, colleagues, and fans, Niven hoped to play Bond in a television series. In prefacing an exchange between Niven and Fleming, Fergus Fleming wrote: “The actor David Niven, whose TV company had recently failed in its bid to acquire rights to James Bond.”68

  Although Niven missed this opportunity to play Bond, he did try to work with Fleming on another project. Fergus Fleming writes that on “23 October 1962 [Niven wrote] to ask if Fleming could think of a suitable character—a high-class crook, a la ‘Raffles’ or a super-modern ‘Sherlock Holmes’—for him to play in forthcoming four-part series.”69 Fleming responded, “I have just this minute come back from New York working on just such a project as you suggest…. I think I should gracefully decline.”70

  When the proposed James Bond television series fizzled out, Fleming turned his focus to bringing Bond to the big screen, and Niven was one of the actors he thought might make an effective Bond. According to Robert Sellers in The Battle for Bond, Richard Burton in 1959 might have been Fleming’s first choice for the role,71 but by as early as January 196072 or as late as March 1960,73 Fleming was lobbying for his friend Niven, who won the Best Actor Oscar for Separate Tables (1958).

  Fleming wanted Niven to play Bond, but Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, who in 1961 secured the rights to adapt the character into a film series, had other ideas. In his autobiography When the Snow Melts, Broccoli wrote, “It is important to understand that we never intended to play Sean Connery exactly as Fleming’s Bond: the university graduate, the gentleman…. If we had wanted that kind of character, then we might have considered… someone in the David Niven mold.”74

  However, after Connery’s first farewell as Bond in Diamonds Are Forever, Broccoli and Saltzman had a change of heart and sought to “create a new James Bond” in the 1970s.75 The producers were attracted to Roger Moore, in part, because of his “Niven-like touch in his humor.”76

  Moore, in turn, has cited Niven as one of his favorite actors and as someone who influenced his persona. The duo, who became close friends, made four films together: The King’s Thief (1955), Escape to Athena (1979), The Sea Wolves (1980), and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Niven’s last onscreen performance. When discussing Niven, who died in 1983, Roger Moore said, “The saddest thing about aging is that most of my friends are now in the other room. I miss David Niven the most. I still can’t watch his films without shedding a tear. There’s a bust of him in my study, given to me by his son.”77 Arguably, Niven’s effortless charm and onscreen persona had a greater impact on Moore’s approach to Bond than Connery’s depiction of the character.

  I contacted Niven’s son David Niven Jr., a film producer and actor, who produced The Eagle Has Landed (1976), whose cast included Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, and Niven and Moore’s Escape to Athena, to get his perspective on his father’s impact on the Bond legacy.

  What did your father think of playing James Bond in Casino Royale?

  He enjoyed playing Sir James Bond—the only senior citizen Bond—in the original Casino Royale, as it was fun, a total spoof and a lark. [Note: Niven was fifty-seven when he played Bond, who is brought out of retirement for one last mission in Casino Royale, and Sean Connery was fifty-seven when he played a semiretired Bond in Never Say Never Again. In their first appearances as Bond, Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Dalton, and Craig were thirty-two, forty-six, forty-two, forty-one, and thirty-eight. In his final performance as Bond, Moore was also fifty-seven but Bond’s age wasn’t brought up.78] Daddy once said that no actor had any idea how the movie could be cut together as there were five [credited] directors, with each doing “their own thing.” He loved working with Joanna Pettet, Barbara Bouchet, Elaine Taylor, Jacqueline Bisset, and Alexandra Bastedo. All were young and gorgeous.

  Your father and Ian Fleming were friends. How would you describe their relationship?

  Daddy and Ian became friends during World War II. They both attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst—Ian only briefly and my father graduated later to become a lieutenant colonel—and were two years apart. Both chased a lot of women successfully. Their friendship, I thin
k, started in World War II when daddy’s father-in-law-to-be was high ranking in Royal Naval Intelligence.

  I was surprised to learn that Niven was interested in purchasing the rights. Fergus Fleming wrote that Niven’s company “failed in its bid to acquire rights to James Bond.”79 Do you know anything about his interest in playing Bond in a series?

  Fergus Fleming’s statement the company “failed in its bid to acquire the rights” is not accurate. My father and Dick Powell owned the then–most successful independent TV production company called Four Star. My father told me he had lunch with an old friend called Ian Fleming who offered him the rights to his James Bond books. Daddy was very excited so he discussed this with his partner Dick Powell, whose reaction was “Who in the USA do you think would ever give a fuck about watching a movie or TV series about an English secret agent?” My father didn’t have a strong response, so he sadly advised Ian, “no.” My father always wished they had made the deal, but that’s life.

  In the novel You Only Live Twice, Kissy Suzuki speaks fondly of David Niven and names her pet bird after him. What did your father think about the tribute?

  In order to truly understand what the real joke is about the bird, one has to realize that in those days and up until the 1990s, well-bred upper-class Englishmen used the word bird as a code name referring to a penis.

  How did your father describe his friendship with Moore?

  Roger Moore and Robert Wagner were the two younger brothers that my father never had. He adored and loved them both, which was mutual, and their extremely close friendship lasted until daddy died. Roger drove with his daughter, Deborah, throughout the night from Nice in the South of France to daddy’s house in Switzerland because he had told my youngest sister, Fiona, over the phone, “Don’t worry, I will be there by mid-morning.” Daddy had just died and the airport in Nice was closed—hence the seven-hour drive. Roger was leaving the next day to film in South Africa so couldn’t stay for the funeral, which he organized (in a Catholic church later changed by my brother to a Protestant one). The church was full of sunflowers that Roger had flown in from God only knows where.