Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond. Nelson was born Robert Haakon Nielsen in San Francisco, California, of Norwegian ancestry, the son of Betsy and Trygve Nielsen.
TV Show (1964-68): Napoleon Solo is an American version of Bond and funny enough, he was created by Ian Fleming who contributed to the concepts of the show after being approached by the show's co-creator.
Nelson performed another Broadway role, that of Gus Hammer in The Rat Race (1949). He was the first actor to play James Bond on screen in a 1954 adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel Casino Royale on the television anthology series Climax! (preceding Sean Connery's interpretation in Dr. No by eight years).
But this isn't actually true as both The Saint and the Bond film series started in 1962, so he couldn't have been inspired by Moore's performance there. He may have seen Moore in an early film/tv series but the only actor Fleming ever endorsed as Bond was David Niven.
Summary. Daniel Craig retired as 007 at 51, ending his tenure as Britain's most iconic spy. The oldest actor to play James Bond was Roger Moore, who played him from ages 45 to 57.
Daniel Craig has had the longest tenure as James Bond, spanning from 2006 to 2021, and is credited with rejuvenating the franchise with a grittier and more realistic approach.
Sean Connery defined the role of James Bond and originated the character on the big screen, playing him in the first five films.
With that in mind, Connery isn't our first choice (cue gnashing of teeth from hardcore fans), but he's an inescapable part of the franchise's legacy. The Scottish actor was the first Bond to take up the reins seriously and make the role his own. As the original, he is what many would see as the best Bond.
1. Roger Moore. Roger Moore will perhaps always be remembered as the man who replaced Sean Connery in the James Bond series, arguably something he never lived down.
According to reports from The Sun, the offer to portray Bond has been extended to Taylor-Johnson, and Eon Productions is eagerly awaiting his response to kickstart production on a new film. 'It's a big decision," James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli told Variety in 2022.
Whether due to contractual constraints or the character's British nationality, Bond has been portrayed by actors from various backgrounds, including Scottish, Irish, Australian, and English, but never American.
The closest equivalent is Jack Ryan, as he has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine to varying effect. The two Jack Ryan films that Ford did in the '90s, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, feel the most similar to Bond.
John (born Jill Arlyn Oppenheim; August 19, 1940) is an American retired actress. She is best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the James Bond film franchise, in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.
Raymond Benson noted that Dalton "purposely played Bond as a ruthless and serious man with very little of the wit displayed by Connery, Lazenby or Moore", and considered him "the most accurate and literal interpretation of the role ... ever seen on screen".
The research also saw Sean Connery, Daniel Craig and Roger Moore named among the best Bonds so far. But 86 per cent think that no matter who the producers pick to play the character next, someone will complain about it.
John Bernard Lee (10 January 1908 – 16 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from the age of six.
As of 2021, George Lazenby is the youngest actor to portray 007, at age 29 during filming. The rest of the actors and their ages, in no particular order: Sir Sean Connery, 31; Sir Roger Moore, 45; Timothy Dalton, 40; Pierce Brosnan, 41; and Daniel Craig, 38.
The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back." At the time (March 2024), the report expected Eon to announce Taylor-Johnson as the next Bond "in the coming days." That news has yet to materialize, and Taylor-Johnson downplayed the idea in a recent Rolling Stone profile.
