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!

–

Related Articles:

New Limited Edition Autograph Cards Now on eBay

On Wednesday, Rittenhouse Archives Ltd. released a new collection of James Bond trading cards called James Bond Archives. This set contains the following Felix Leiter cards:

New Autograph Cards

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.

Related Articles:

New Leiter Trading Cards from Rittenhouse

John Terry turns 59 years old today and all of us here at FelixLeiter.com would like to wish him a wonderful happy birthday!

Mr. Terry played Felix Leiter in 1987′s The Living Daylights opposite Timothy Dalton’s 007. He is arguably the most underrated Felix Leiter ever, receiving only one vote in the CommanderBond.net Forums’ poll, Favourite Felix Leiter II. According to this poll, Terry is in the same league as Norman Burton (one vote) and Cec Linder (two votes) among Bond fans. After Rik Van Nutter, John Terry was the second youngest Leiter ever at 37 years old.

“What the hell are you trying to do, start World War III?”

John Terry wasn’t the worst Felix Leiter ever but he wasn’t the most memorable either. Ideally, Eon Productions should have cast David Hedison in the role for two reasons (1) Continuity and (2) Because they casted him two years later in Licence to Kill. Had Terry been cast in Licence to Kill, I believe he would have more support among Bond fans today. Historically, the more screen time a Leiter actor has, the more beloved he is. David Hedison and Jeffrey Wright are perfect examples of this phenomenon.

–

Related Articles:

Bond Allies

BA26 – Felix Leiter in Live And Let Die
BA29 – Felix Leiter in Thunderball
BA30 – Felix Leiter in Goldfinger
BA35 – Felix Leiter in Diamonds Are Forever

Costume/Prop Relic Cards

DC04 – Felix Leiter from Casino Royale (Double)

Autograph Cards

A116 – John Terry as Felix Leiter in The Living Daylights (40th Anniversary Style) (Very Limited)

The James Bond: Dangerous Liaisons and The Complete James Bond trading cards from 2006 and 2007, respectively, also contain the following Felix Leiter cards:

James Bond: Dangerous Liaisons

Bond Allies

BA01 – Felix Leiter in Dr. No

The Complete James Bond

Casino Royale: Dangerous Liaisons

DL3 – James Bond-Felix Leiter

Casino Royale Expansion Cards

BA19 – Felix Leiter in Casino Royale

I noticed there is a “Bond Allies” card for 6 of the 7 “official” Felix Leiter actors (Jack Lord, Cec Linder, Rik Van Nutter, Norman Burton, David Hedison and Jeffrey Wright). I don’t think a John Terry “Bond Allies” card exists yet but he does have an “Autograph Card” that matches Rittenhouse’s 40th Anniversary cards. As I mentioned above, this specific card is included in the new James Bond in Motion set.

On March 4, 2009, Rittenhouse will release James Bond Archives. It will retail for $84.00. Since I only care about the Felix Leiter trading cards, I will avoid the extravagantly priced sets and just buy the individual Leiter cards on eBay. I’m already in possession of the ”Bond Allies” cards for Jack Lord, Cec Linder, Rik Van Nutter and Jeffrey Wright.

(Older trading cards featuring David Hedison as Felix Leiter can be viewed at DavidHedison.net, FYI)

–

Related Articles:

Rik Van Nutter Born 79 Years Ago Today