James Bond Movies Timeline. Commander James Bond RN—code number 007—is a fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. The character appeared in a series of twelve novels and two short story collections written by Fleming and a number of continuation novels and spin-off works after Fleming’s death in 1964. Seven actors have played Bond in 26 films.
Fleming portrayed Bond as a tall, athletic, handsome secret agent in his thirties or forties; he has several vices including drinking, smoking, gambling, automobiles and women. He is an exceptional marksman, and skilled in unarmed combat, skiing, swimming and golf. While Bond kills without hesitation or regret, he usually kills only when carrying out orders, while acting in self-defence and occasionally as revenge.
American actor Barry Nelson was the first to portray Bond on screen, in a 1954 television adaptation, “Casino Royale”. In 1961 Eon Productions began work on Dr. No, an adaptation of the novel of the same name. The result was a film that began a series of 24 films that celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012. After considering the likes of “refined” English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven, the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film.
Fleming was appalled at the selection of the uncouth, 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him to be the antithesis of his character. However, Connery’s physical prowess and sexual magnetism in the role came to be closely identified with the character, with Fleming ultimately changing his view on Connery and incorporating aspects of his portrayal into the books.
Following Connery’s portrayal, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have assumed the role in twenty-six feature film productions. These screen versions have retained many traits from Fleming’s depiction, although some of Bond’s less fashionable attitudes have been dropped, such as racism, homophobia, retaining the services of a maid, and in the more recent films, smoking. Despite playing the same character, there have been notable differences among the portrayals. Daniel Craig is the incumbent Bond in the long-running Eon series, and played the part for a fourth time in the latest film, Spectre, released in October 2015.
James Bond Movies Timeline
Sean Connery
1962 Dr. No
1963 From Russia with Love
1964 Goldfinger
1965 Thunderball
1967 You Only Live Twice
1971 Diamonds Are Forever
1983 Never Say Never Again
Roger Moore
1973 Live and Let Die
1974 The Man with the Golden Gun
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me
1979 Moonraker
1981 For Your Eyes Only
1983 Octopussy
1985 A View to a Kill
Timothy Dalton
1987 The Living Daylights
1989 Licence to Kill
Pierce Brosnan
1995 GoldenEye
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies
1999 The World Is Not Enough
2002 Die Another Day
Daniel Craig
2006 Casino Royale
2008 Quantum of Solace
2012 Skyfall
2015 Spectre
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