James Bond stars aside, there is another actor whose contribution to this franchise far exceeds yours (Image: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)
In total, six actors have been granted the popular spy’s license to kill, playing Bond in his thrilling on-screen adventures.
The actor who has played Bond the most (legitimately) is Sir Roger, who appeared in seven of Eon’s official Bond productions, while Australian model and former car salesman George Lazenby played 007 just once.
Craig’s most recent Bond closed out his run of Bond films with 2021’s To Time To Die, and in the three years since it’s become almost a national pastime to speculate on who will replace him.
However, Bond writer Ian Fleming, inspired by Fleming’s real-life work with the secret fighter Special Operations Executive during World War II, also wrote other immortal characters.
These characters also appear in the Bond films, straight from the pages of the novels, such as M and Miss Moneypenny.
007 was supported by an MI6 team in each film, many of whom appeared in more than one movie, but Desmond Llewelyn’s Q clocked up 17 films (Image: Col Pics/Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)
But the actor who appears most frequently in the 007 films plays a character who is not technically written by Fleming (although his offspring is mentioned), and that is Desmond Llewelyn como QIndonesian: abbreviation for “intendant”
Q has appeared in almost every James Bond film, played by a number of different actors including Monty Python star John Cleese, Bafta winner Ben Whishaw and Peter Burton, who appeared in Dr No as Major Boothroyd, the predecessor to the film interpretation of the role. (However, Llewelyn’s Q was later credited as Major Boothroyd in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.)
Remarkably, Llewelyn, who was born in 1914 and whose career included 17 films as Q over 36 years, was paid only once a day for his usually brief appearances in each film.
James Bond didn’t make him a star, but it did make the British actor, who had starred on stage alongside Laurence Oliver and Vivien Leigh before appearing in Olivier’s 1948 version of Hamlet, an instant household name.
In his role as head of MI6 across decades of filmmaking, Llewelyn delivered some of Bond’s most memorable props, often with his memorable line: “Pay attention, 007.”
Llewelyn’s first Bond film was 1963’s From Russia with Love (pictured), in which he worked with the first of five 007 actors, Sir Sean Connery (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
The Welsh actor appeared in the main British franchise for 36 years (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
He had the pleasure of introducing Bond (here played by Sir Roger Moore) to many of his most famous and ingenious gadgets (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
And let’s not forget the exploding toothpaste from License to Kill, the Lotus Esprit S1 underwater car from The Spy Who Loved Me and, of course,Indonesian: GoldenEye Explosive Pen.
There’s also the baffling invisible car from Die Another Day and the classic (very cool) jetpack from Thunderball, while Q also joins 007 outside his laboratory in Octopussy and Licence to Kill.
Although his career has included appearances in films such as They Were Not Divided, The Lavender Hill Mob and Cleopatra, being part of the 007 franchise allowed Llewelyn to earn a good income through advertising.
Llewelyn, seen here with his fourth Bond co-star Timothy Dalton, doesn’t earn much directly from his films, but does make money through collaborations (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
The Welsh actor and Rada graduate has appeared in adverts for brands including Ford, Heineken, LG and Reach toothbrushes, as well as spots promoting classic video games GoldenEye 007 and Tomorrow Never Dies.
Over the years, Q and Bond had a strained relationship in the films that slowly turned into affection.
When Llewelyn’s Q tells Bond about his impending retirement in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, Brosnan’s 007 expresses his hope that it won’t happen “too soon.”
Llewelyn can then make his grand exit in style, telling Bond as P: “I always tried to teach you two things: first, never let them see you bleed.”
When Bond calls for the second, he adds, “Always have an escape plan,” before lowering it out of sight onto a platform.
Of course, this wasn’t intended to be the veteran actor’s last appearance as Q.
The actor announced that he intended to continue with the role in an interview in the DVD extras of his latest film “as long as the producers want me to and the Almighty (God) doesn’t.”
Tragically, he died in a car accident at the age of 85, just three weeks after the premiere of The World Is Not Enough.
The late Sir Roger Moore, who died aged 89 in 2017, spoke at his funeral.
Today, the popular Llewelyn remains the actor who has appeared in the most Bond films and played the same character, ahead of Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny in 14 films.
In two films, including Octopussy (pictured), the iconic Q version of the actor actually takes a more active role in Bond’s missions (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
His final appearance as Q came in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, though he intended to continue playing for longer (Image: Danjaq/Eon/UA/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)
He first appeared in Dr. No and last appeared in 1985’s A View to A Kill with Sir Roger.
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However the Can losing his title as the person who appeared on screen and acted in the most Bond films going forward if cameos are taken into account.
Producer Michael G. Wilson, the half-brother of fellow producer Barbara Broccoli, is believed to have appeared uncredited in scenes in 16 007 films so far, just one behind Llewelyn, although one of these was cut from the final version of Skyfall.
He first appeared in 1964’s Goldfinger as a soldier at Fort Knox, and was last seen on screen in 2015’s Spectre as a government official alongside Max Denbigh’s C (played by Andrew Scott).
But Llewelyn’s impact and role in the franchise as a whole on screen is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.
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