John Edmund Gardner

November 20, 1926 – August 3, 2007

John Gardner, the second official James Bond continuation novelist, passed away four 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.

Four 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 ninth original Bond novel, Brokenclaw, 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 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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Cec Linder

March 10, 1921 – April 10, 1992

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…

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Jack Lord

December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998

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“For me, Jack Lord sprung to mind. I mean the shades. And outside of Miles Davis, he was the coolest cat on the planet.”

- Jeffrey Wright, current Felix Leiter

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Jack Lord was the first cinematic interpretation of Ian Fleming’s Felix Leiter in 1962′s Dr. No. He was approached for Goldfinger but had to decline due to the producers’ unwillingness to pay him an amount equal to what Sean Connery was making for the picture. Despite his greed, he is still considered one of the series’ best Felix Leiters. He had the potential to make the character truly special by giving the character continuity but unfortunately the producers had to recast thus establishing the tradition of casting a new Felix Leiter every subsequent time the character was needed in a Bond film. As you know, Jeffrey Wright has broken the trend with his appearances in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

VISIT THE JACK LORD FAN CLUB ON MYSPACE

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Michael Pate

February 26, 1920 – September 1, 2008

Australian actor Michael Pate has died of respiratory failure at age 88. He appeared in over 50 films and was a frequent guest star on Americans television shows during the 1950s and ’60s.

Pate died late Monday at Gosford Hospital on the central coast of New South Wales after being admitted with pneumonia, according to the Associated Press.

To Bond fans, Michael Pate is best known as Clarence Leiter, Jimmy Bond’s British counterpart in the 1954 American television adaptation of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. Clarence Leiter, you ask? 

In 1954, CBS paid Ian Fleming $1,000 to adapt Casino Royale into a television adventure as part of its Climax! series. Since it was for an American audience, CBS turned James Bond into the Americanized Jimmy Bond played by Barry Nelson. CIA ally, Felix Leiter, was turned into Clarence Leiter, a British spy played by Australian actor, Michael Pate.

Pate didn’t play our favorite Leiter but we here at FelixLeiter.com still hold a special place in our hearts for Clarence. If you’ve never seen the Climax! adaptation of Casino Royale, get your hands on the 2002 DVD edition of the 1967 spoof, Casino Royale, because it’s one of the DVD’s special features.

CommanderBond.net has a great article on the Climax! adaptation here.

Last week, I was watching Season 1 of the original Get Smart and noticed Michael Pate in the episode, “Our Man in Leotards.” He was guest starring as Emilio Naharana and I thought it was pretty cool to see him on the show!

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

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.