George Lazenby

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George Lazenby
George Lazenby as James Bond
Born September 5, 1939
Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Actor

George Robert Lazenby (born September 5, 1939) is an Australian actor best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Contents

[edit] Biography

George Lazenby was born in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia, and served in the Australian Army Special forces and as a military unarmed combat instructor. He moved to London in 1964. He worked as a car salesman and as a model, then as an advertising actor. By 1968, he was the highest-paid male model in the world (reportedly, in 1967, he made £40,000 directly from modelling, and £60,000 from commercials and product endorsements — equivalent to more than one million pounds in 2004); he was also the European Marlboro Man.

In the 1970s, Lazenby worked in Hong Kong with Bruce Lee. A planned luncheon meeting with Lee and Raymond Chow to discuss a movie project for the upcoming Golden Harvest Lee film Game of Death 1978 collapsed after Lee's sudden death, although Lazenby would still go on to make 3 of the 4 films he signed to do with Lee in Hong Kong, The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss (1974), The Man From Hong Kong (1975), and A Queen's Ransom (1976). Lazenby was only featured with archive footage when Game of Death was finally released in 1978, after a 5-year delay caused by Lee's death while it was still in production.

Lazenby's Hong Kong martial arts action films were very successful financially and are to this day considered classics of the genre, but without Lee the films didn't have much commercial impact. For example, it is widely believed that all four of the planned Lee/Lazenby films would have grossed in excess of $100 million US at the box office worldwide in the early to mid 1970s (astronomical grosses in today's dollar values), which would have even rivaled the James Bond franchise at the time. Lee's death effectively derailed Lazenby's would-have-been comeback after he had quit the role of James Bond in 1969.

Despite starring in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) (the combined gross earnings of which exceeded $100 million worldwide in the 1970s, then the standard establishing an actor as a box office success), Lazenby's acting career never flourished.

He then focused on business and real estate investments and ended up owning mansions in Hawaii, Brentwood, California, Australia, and a 600-acre (2.4 km²) ranch estate in Valyermo, California, a small town about 17 miles southeast of Palmdale, California; he also owns a portside penthouse apartment in Hong Kong, and an estate home in Maryland. Lazenby has a son, Zack, and an adult daughter, Melanie, from his first marriage to Christina 'Chrissie' Gannett Lazenby, who was heiress to the Gannett Newspaper Publishing empire and who died of brain cancer in 1994.

In 2002, Lazenby married his second wife, former tennis player Pam Shriver; they have three children, George, born 12 July 2004, and twins Caitlin Elizabeth and Samuel Robert, born October 2005. Today, Lazenby enjoys sailing, motorcycle racing, car racing, reading, watching movies, playing golf, and playing tennis.

[edit] James Bond (1969)

Although he had previously worked in TV advertising and an Italian B-movie spy movie, Lazenby's first serious acting role was as James Bond in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) . Lazenby is the second actor to portray the British secret agent in a movie, following Sean Connery, who had become a cultural icon in the role (there had been a live TV version of Casino Royale in 1954 with a different actor). Lazenby had a difficult task in filling these shoes, and nearly everything about his portrayal of Bond has been controversial.

The film's producers, perhaps mistrusting Lazenby's ability to carry the picture, took the unusual step of overdubbing Lazenby's voice with that of George Baker in major scenes in which Bond impersonated Baker's character. The technique had never been used in a Bond film for a leading actor whose first language was English. It was rumoured that Lazenby had been 'difficult to work with'.[citation needed] Lazenby subsequently admitted that he had neither the maturity nor the experience to completely understand the studio system.[citation needed] According to an interview with Lazenby, the difficulties were due to director Peter R. Hunt refusing to talk directly to Lazenby, who was too brusque in passing on a request that Hunt's friends clear a set before filming[1]. Allegedly, there also were personality conflicts with leading lady Diana Rigg, who already was an established star. However, according to director Hunt, these rumours are untrue and there were no such difficulties - or else they were minor - and that he would have agreed to direct Diamonds Are Forever if Lazenby had accepted the contract.[2].

During the film's production, Lazenby's manager Ronan O'Rahilly talked him into refusing a seven-movie contract on grounds that the James Bond character was out of touch with the times. Lazenby later stated that he regretted the decision not to continue playing Bond.

Lazenby's performance as James Bond is controversial. Most viewers appreciate his athletic prowess in the part, especially in action scenes, but many have been dismissive - even hostile - toward his interpretation of Bond. Moreover, viewers tend either to find Lazenby's laconic style cold-blooded, at times callow and humorless, or else perfectly appropriate to the character of a determined and superficially charming spy. Certainly, Lazenby's Bond is a man less amused by life than that of Connery, less accessible, stoic and resigned. This treatment was the deliberate approach of the film's director, Peter Hunt, who has stated in an interview: 'I was very insistent that we stay with the story of the book.- Hunt re-shot scenes in which he was unhappy with Lazenby's portrayal of emotion[3].

Critical response to On Her Majesty's Secret Service also remains sharply divided, affecting estimates of Lazenby's potential as Bond. It followed the plot of the novel more closely than the other film adaptations of the eponymous source novels, including serious dramatic subject matter pivotal to the development of Bond's character: Bond's contemplated resignation from MI6; his comically-botched impersonation of a sexually ascetic genealogist at a mountaintop allergies clinic for beautiful young women; and his brief, tragic marriage to Tracy Draco, the daughter of a Corsican crime syndicate leader. American movie reviewer Leonard Maltin has suggested that had Connery held the leading role, On Her Majesty's Secret Service would have epitomised the series.

Although the film was not as commercially successful as previous Bond films at the box office, some aficionados consider this the best film of the series, with many critics feeling Lazenby 'nailed' Ian Fleming's characterization of 007. Commercially, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is widely believed to have paled in comparison to the previous Bond film, You Only Live Twice, and to the following, Diamonds Are Forever (both featuring Connery); this has been partly attributed to a poor publicity campaign. In fact, the film was not much less successful than You Only Live Twice, taking about 80% of the box office gross with 74% of the budget[4][5], and was the second highest-grossing film of 1969. When adjusted for inflation, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the median performer of the entire James Bond franchise; the box office was undoubtedly compromised by Lazenby's public announcement before the film's release that he refused to play the part again.

Lazenby has portrayed James Bond several times over the years in numerous parodies and unofficial 007 roles, most notably the 1983 TV movie The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. and an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, entitled "Diamonds Aren't Forever". He also made a guest appearance on the popular TV series Superboy during the show's second season in 1990.

[edit] Selected filmography

George Lazenby 1968.
George Lazenby 1968.
  • Winter Break (Alternate title: Sheer Bliss) (2003)
  • Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (2002) (TV Series) (voice)
  • Spider's Web (2001)
  • Four Dogs Playing Poker (2000)
  • The Pretender (1999-2000) (TV Series) - recurring guest role as the hero Jarod's father Major Charles
  • Batman Beyond: The Movie (1999) (TV Movie) (voice)
  • Batman Beyond (1999) (TV Series) - recurring role as King (voice)
  • Emmanuelle Forever (1993)
  • Emmanuelle in Venice (1993)
  • Emmanuelle's Love (1993)
  • Yu Yu Hakusho: Eizo Hakusho (1993) (voice)
  • Gettysburg (1993)
  • Emmanuelle's Magic (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Perfume (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Revenge (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Secret (1992)
  • The Evil Inside (1992)
  • Superboy (1988) (TV Series) - recurring guest role as Jor-El
  • Never Too Young to Die (1986)
  • The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1983) (TV Movie) - as the Bond-like character "JB"
  • General Hospital (1982) (TV Series)
  • The Nude Bomb (1980) - cameo appearance as James Bond
  • Death Dimension (Alternate title: Black Eliminator) (Alternate title: Freeze Bomb) 1978)
  • Game of Death (1978) (archive fighting footage)
  • Bruce Lee, The Legend (1977)
  • The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
  • A Queen's Ransom (1976)
  • The Man From Hong Kong (Alternate title: The Dragon Flies) (1975)
  • The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss (1974)
  • The Last Days of Bruce Lee (1973)
  • Life and Legend of Bruce Lee (1973) (archive footage)
  • Universal Soldier (1971)
  • On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
  • Espionage in Tangiers (1966)

[edit] Salary

$50,000 per month ($400,000 total)

£100,000 per month (£300,000 total) or $222,222 per month ($666,666 total), plus 25% of the worldwide net profits.

  • Who Saw Her Die? 1972

$25,000 US per week ($650,000 total)

$10,000 per week, plus $1,000 per week living expense $11,000 per week overall ($220,000 total)

  • The Man From Hong Kong 1975

$10,000 per week, plus $1,000 per week living expense $11,000 per week overall ($220,000 total)

  • A Queen's Ransom 1976

$10,000 per week, plus $1,000 per week living expense $11,000 per week overall ($220,000 total)

  • The Newman Shame 1977

$15,000 per week ($390,000 total)

$10,000

$15,000 per week ($30,000 total)

$10,000 per episode/2 episodes ($20,000 total)

  • Emmanuelle's Secret (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Revenge (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Perfume (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Magic (1992)
  • Emmanuelle's Love (1993)
  • Emmanuelle in Venice (1993)
  • Emmanuelle Forever (1993)

$52,500

$10,000 per episode/4 episodes ($40,000 total)

[edit] Trivia

  • On an episode of The Simpsons, Lisa tells Marge that their Smart House has the voice of James Bond. Marge responds, "Oh! George Lazenby?!". Lisa corrects her, saying that it's Pierce Brosnan.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview in Bondage, magazine of the James Bond 007 Fan Club
  2. ^ Retrovision magazine interview with Peter R. Hunt
  3. ^ Retrovision magazine interview with Peter R. Hunt
  4. ^ IMDB business data for On Her Majesty's Secret Service
  5. ^ IMDB business data for You Only Live Twice


Preceded by:
Sean Connery
1962–1967		 James Bond actor
1969		 Succeeded by:
Sean Connery
1971


James Bond actors
Official - Sean Connery • George Lazenby • Roger Moore • Timothy Dalton • Pierce Brosnan • Daniel Craig
Unofficial - Barry Nelson • David Niven • Sean Connery
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