It may be official—

John Terry is criminally underrated.

“Wait, what?”

Many Bondophiles and Felix fans know Mr. Terry from his one performance as dear Uncle Felix in EON Productions’ The Living Daylights opposite Timothy Dalton as Ian Fleming’s James Bond.

And more than a few fans agree that, frankly, we weren’t impressed.

More than 14 years since the character’s last celluloid appearance in Live And Let Die, the brief and rather trivial role of Felix in Daylights was more than a little underwhelming. And the chemistry between Dalton and Terry left something to be desired, to say the least. The typical viewer might have thought they were eavesdropping on an Entmoot with all the wooden performances in the room.

“The name’s Beard…Treebeard.”

However, Daylight’s John Terry has really hit his stride this past decade.

Some may recall Terry’s appearance during Season 2 of Fox’s 24, which revealed a truly skilled artist playing the part of an ex-CIA agent whose daughter has been brainwashed into terrorism. His career-defining role, however, came a few years later in 2004 when he was cast in the part of another father figure, Christian Shephard, the father of leading-man Jack Shephard (Emmy-nominee Matthew Fox) on ABC’s LOST. Like 24, LOST broke new ground in the field of storytelling. While the former became famous for its trademark “real time” narrative (and merciless Bauer-torture), the latter has been revered for skillfully weaving web upon web of logic-defying connections and mysteries among survivors of a plane crash through juxtaposition of their present survival and flashbacks that revealed how each person came to be on the fateful airliner and, eventually, “The Island.” Without revealing any significant spoilers (for those who have not yet seen the Emmy-winning series from J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber, and Damon Lindelof), Terry’s role as Christian is a pivotal part of what formed the series’ main character and brought him to the island. Make no mistake, every LOST fan knows and understands the impact Terry had on the series as a whole.

The Emmy-winning worldwide phenomenon is now set to arrive in stores on August 24^th (now available for pre-order). Available will be not only the final season of LOST, but also the complete series collector’s box set (picture above). For fans of Bond, Felix, and Mr. Terry, the chance is here to see some really impressive work that, in the opinion of this writer, warrants some serious respect for the one-time Felix actor. It is enough to make one question whether Leiter’s lackluster appearance had more to do with the writing than the acting. Come to think of it, of all Leiter’s cinematic appearances, it is Daylights into which the character seems the most shoehorned. This writer now firmly believes that John Terry was capable of much more chemistry with Dalton’s Bond, given some more screen time and material to play, and is elated to say that he was dead wrong in his assumptions about this former Felix.

Pictured: Justice.

Catch Terry and the award-winning ensemble cast of LOST on August 24^th!

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John Edmund Gardner

November 20, 1926 – August 3, 2007

John Gardner, the second official James Bond continuation novelist, passed away three years ago today. During his tenure, Gardner penned fourteen original Bond novels and two novelizations including 1982′s For Special Services and 1994′s SeaFire, both of which feature Felix Leiter.

In 1982, Gardner created Cedar Leiter, Felix’s daughter. Like her father, Cedar worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and aided Bond in For Special Services.

Three years ago, Gardner died from suspected heart failure. He was a great novelist and will be remembered forever for his Bond work as well as his original creations, including his three Moriarty novels.

I am currently reading his eighth Bond novel, Win, Lose or Die, and I must say that I’m thoroughly enjoying it. As a little tribute to the man who kept the literary James Bond alive throughout the 1980s and early-1990s, I am currently reading all sixteen of his Bond novels in order!

John-Gardner.com | Twitter | Facebook

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John Edmund Gardner

November 20, 1926 – August 3, 2007

John Gardner, the second official James Bond continuation novelist, passed away two years ago today. During his tenure, Gardner penned fourteen Bond novels and two novelizations including 1982′s For Special Services and 1994′s SeaFire, both of which feature Felix Leiter.

In 1982, Gardner created Cedar Leiter, Felix’s daughter. Like her father, Cedar worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and aided Bond in For Special Services.

Two years ago, Gardner died from suspected heart failure. He was a great novelist and will be remembered forever for his Bond work as well as his original creations, including his three Moriarty novels.

I am currently reading his first Bond novel, License Renewed, and I must say that I’m thoroughly enjoying it. As a little tribute to the man who kept the literary James Bond alive throughout the 1980s and early-1990s, I plan on reading all sixteen of his Bond works in order!

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ARB Centenary: A Tribute by Simon Gardner

In 1968, people were willing to take to the streets to tell the country’s leaders, and Presidential candidates, how they felt about the war in Vietnam, civil rights and other key issues. Now, it’s time to channel that same spirit of activism and “Speak Your Peace” by voicing your opinion on the issues that are most important to you, getting those around you to register to vote, advocating for voter protection initiatives and most importantly, exercising your right to vote this Nov. 2nd and in every election! – TakePart.com

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE ‘CHICAGO 10′ ON DVD

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John Gardner

November 20, 1926 – August 3, 2007

John Gardner, the second official James Bond continuation novelist, passed away a year ago today. During his tenure, Gardner penned fourteen Bond novels and two novelizations including 1982′s For Special Services and 1994′s SeaFire which feature Felix Leiter.

In 1982, Gardner created Cedar Leiter, Felix’s daughter. Like her father, Cedar worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and aided Bond in For Special Services.

Last year, Gardner died from suspected heart failure. He was a great novelist and will be remembered forever for his Bond work as well as his original creations, including his three Moriarty novels.

His final novel, Moriarty, will be published posthumously on November 10. You can pre-order the novel at Amazon.com.