Today marks the 100th birthday of Albert Romolo “Cubby” Broccoli, the legendary producer of the James Bond films series. While he passed away in 1996 his legacy still lives on today, as we witnessed with the 2008 release of Quantum of Solace, the 22nd 007 film produced by Mr. Broccoli’s Eon Productions Ltd.
When I think of the average movie producer, I think of somebody sitting behind a desk whose sole responsibility is signing off on various things during all phases of production. If you know anything about Mr. Broccoli, you’ll know that he famously took a hands-on approach when “producing” films. He was so dedicated to every aspect of film production on the Bond film series that he only produced two non-Bond films (1963’s Call Me Bwana and 1968’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) during his thirty-four years as co-owner (and later sole owner) of Eon Productions!
As his step-son Michael G. Wilson and daughter Barbara Broccoli gear up for production on the 23rd James Bond film, FelixLeiter.com celebrates the life and career of a man that was loved and admired by not only his friends and family but by everybody he ever worked with as well as every Bond fan and film buff familiar with his work.
I encourage you to take some time to read through the tributes written by the authors below. If you’re a 007 fan and/or involved in the online James Bond fan community, you will recognize most of these names. This select group of people includes actors that worked with Mr. Broccoli over the years on the Bond films as well as well-known members of the James Bond fan community.
Editor Hunter Graybeal and are confident that you will enjoy reading the tributes. Not only do they contain anecdotes that you may not have heard or read about before but altogether, they paint a portrait of the man that changed the film industry forever. Because of Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli, you have seen at least one film starring “Bond. James Bond” in your lifetime and if you haven’t, well then perhaps after reading these tributes you’ll decide to rent one of the 22 Bond films available from your local video rental store.
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Chris Wright
Managing Editor, FelixLeiter.com
Click on each author’s name to read his/her tribute to Albert R. Broccoli:
David Hedison, two-time Felix Leiter, turns 82 years old today and all of us here at FelixLeiter.com would like to wish him a wonderful happy birthday!
Mr. Hedison appeared in 1973’s Live and Let Die and 1989’s Licence to Kill. He was the first actor to portray the cinematic Leiter twice, a record he now shares with Jeffrey Wright. Many Bond fans consider him their favorite interpretation of Felix Leiter and many wish he had been given the opportunity to play the character more. I too share this sentiment and wish he had at least returned in 1987’s The Living Daylights. I don’t dislike John Terry in that film but I think we can all agree that David Hedison IS Felix Leiter! Mr. Terry was merely filling in for him until he returned two years later in Licence to Kill as far as I’m concerned.
I had the opportunity to meet him as well as Priscilla Barnes (Della Leiter) at the first annual International Sports & Entertainment Festival in Cleveland, Ohio in June 2006. I shared my experience at this event in this article at CommanderBond.net. Mr. Hedison was the first actor from a James Bond film that I had ever met and I will always remember that experience.
Thank you for being a class act and FLc hopes you have many more happy birthdays to come!
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Rik Van Nutter, the third actor to play Felix Leiter, was born 79 years ago today. I recently watched Thunderball and I really enjoyed his portrayal of our favorite CIA agent. He was certainly better than his predecessor, Cec Linder, and I wish he had returned in Diamonds Are Forever instead of Norman Burton. Not just for the sake of continuity (which there had been none of in the Leiter role at the time) but because Burton wasn’t that great.
DavidHedison.com is currently having a sale on its sets of autographed photographs. The sale will last until all photos are gone so get ‘em while they last!
Sebastian Faulks, author of the latest adult James Bond novel Devil May Care, turns 56 years old today and all of us at FelixLeiter.com would like to wish him a wonderful happy birthday!
Cec Linder, the second actor to play Felix Leiter, was born 88 years ago today. He was no Jack Lord but he was still a great Felix in 1964! The following dialogue is from one of my favorite Leiter scenes in Goldfinger:
Bond: Special plane, lunch at the White House… how come?
Leiter: The President wants to thank you personally.
Bond: Oh, it was nothing, really.
Leiter: I know that, but he doesn’t.
Bond: I suppose I’ll be able to get a drink there.
Leiter: I told the stewardess liquor for three.
Bond: Who are the other two?
Leiter: Oh, there are no other two.
Watch this video to see Bond ditch his dinner plans with Linder’s Leiter for Jill Masterson. Poor Felix…
David Hedison as Felix Leiter in Live And Let Die(Limited)
John Terry as Felix Leiter in The Living Daylights (Very Limited)
Priscilla Barnes as Della Churchill in Licence to Kill(Limited)
Last December, FLc published an extensive article on the last release of Rittenhouse’s James Bond trading card series. Please consult that article for a list of the other Felix Leiter cards that have been released thus far.
The other day I purchased the David Hedison autograph card and today, I won the John Terry autograph card. This will be the first John Terry card in my personal Felix Leiter trading card collection.
It is important to note that these aren’t the first autograph cards for these specific actors from Rittenhouse Archives Ltd. A David Hedison card was released back when Eon Productions was celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the James Bond film series in 2002. The other two cards were released last year in the James Bond in Motion collection:
Older Autograph Cards
A16 - David Hedison as Felix Leiter in Licence to Kill (released on 8.28.2002)
A95 - Priscilla Barnes as Della Leiter in Licence to Kill (40th Anniversary Style) (Limited)
A116 - John Terry as Felix Leiter in The Living Daylights (40th Anniversary Style) (Very Limited)
Stay tuned to FLc for all the latest news on Rittenhouse Archives’ Felix Leiter trading cards. All of the aforementioned autograph cards are now available on eBay. Visit SciFiHobby.com for more information on all of Rittenhouse Archives’ James Bond trading card collections as well as checklists for each collection.
