This is a list of actors that have appeared physically (but not always characteristically) in the Eon Productions series of the James Bond film series more than once.
MI6 Branch: Universal Exports – United Kingdom
M – Head of MI-6
Bernard Lee
In the Bond films, Bernard Lee's character, M, is Admiral Sir Miles Messervy (only ever named, besides as 'M', as 'Admiral' and 'Miles' on screen in his appearances), Bond's irascible boss who sends him out on assignments. He also portrays M along with Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny in the 1975 French comedy " Bons baisers de Hong Kong". Lee was succeeded by Robert Brown, though not necessarily playing the same character (Brown had played another admiral in the series previously).
Dame Judi Dench, a friend of Lee, would later take over the role of a brand-new M, starting in 1995 with some references to her predecessor, including an oil painting of Lee in the role seen in MI6's secondary HQ (a Scottish castle).[1]
After Lee's death in 1981, the producers hired actor Robert Brown to continue the role in the Bond films. Brown picks up the role in Octopussy, however it is never explicitly stated on screen whether Robert Brown's character is intended to be the same person played by Lee, if he was intended to be Admiral Hargreaves, the role played by Brown in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, or if he is supposed to be another character altogether.[2]
In 1995, actress Dame Judi Dench became known to an international audience after taking over the role of M starting with GoldenEye and continuing through all of the Pierce Brosnan films. She is the only actor from Brosnan's era to remain in the rebooted franchise featuring Daniel Craig, starring in 2006's Casino Royale, 2008's Quantum of Solace, and 2012's Skyfall, followed by a cameo in 2015's Spectre. A painting of Dench's M is shown at the relocated MI6 headquarters in 2021's No Time to Die. Dench played M in a total of eight films.[3]
Starting with the second film in the James Bond series, From Russia with Love (1963), Desmond Llewelyn appeared as Q (the quartermaster of the MI6gadget lab known as Q-branch) in every Bond film, except Live and Let Die (1973), until The World Is Not Enough (1999). He had originally been chosen for the role as he had previously worked with the director Terence Young on the 1950 war film They Were Not Divided. In the 2002 film Die Another Day, John Cleese, who played the character R, the assistant to Q in The World Is Not Enough, was promoted to the head of Q-branch, thus taking on the title of Q. In all, Llewelyn appeared in 17 Bond films, more than any other actor, and worked with the first five James Bond actors. He also portrayed Q in a 1967 made-for-television special (produced by Eon Productions) entitled, Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond which was included in the 2006 special edition DVD release of You Only Live Twice.
Desmond Llewelyn appears as Major Boothroyd/Q in the following films:
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds are Forever (1971)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
Goldeneye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
John Cleese
In 1999, comedian John Cleese appeared in the James Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough as Q's assistant, referred to by Bond as R. In 2002, when Cleese reprised his role in Die Another Day, the character was promoted, making Cleese the new quartermaster (Q) of MI6. In 2004, Cleese was featured as Q in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, featuring his likeness and voice.[4]
Cleese appears as R/Q in the following films:
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Ben Whishaw
Actor Ben Whishaw took over the role in 2012's Skyfall. Q was absent from the two previous movies, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and it was Daniel Craig who had expressed concern over the character's absence, and expressed his hope that Q would return in Skyfall.
Whishaw appears as Q in the following films:
Skyfall (2012)
Spectre (2015)
No Time to Die (2021)
Moneypenny – Secretary
Lois Maxwell
Lois Maxwell lobbied for the role in James Bond, as her husband had had a heart attack and they needed the money. Director Terence Young, who once had turned her down on the grounds that she looked like she "smelled of soap", offered her either Moneypenny or the recurring Bond girlfriend, Sylvia Trench, but she was uncomfortable with a revealing scene the latter had in the screenplay. The role as M's secretary guaranteed just two days' work at £100 per day; Maxwell supplied her own clothes.[5] The Trench character, however, was eliminated after From Russia with Love.
In 1967, Maxwell angered Sean Connery for a time by appearing in the Italian spy spoof Operation Kid Brother with the star's brother Neil Connery and Bernard Lee.[5] In 1971, Maxwell was nearly replaced for Diamonds Are Forever after demanding a pay raise; her policewoman's cap disguises hair she had already dyed for another role.[5] In 1975, she plays Moneypenny weeping for the death of James Bond in a short scene with Bernard Lee as M in the French comedy Bons Baisers de Hong Kong. For the filming of A View to a Kill, her final appearance, Bond producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli told her that the two of them were the only ones from Dr. No still working on the series. Maxwell asked that her character be killed off, but Broccoli recast the role instead.[5]
As Moneypenny, according to author Tom Lisanti, she was seen as an "anchor", with her flirtatious repartee with Bond lending the films realism and humanism. For Moneypenny, Bond was "unobtainable", freeing the characters to make outrageous sexual double entendres. At the same time, her character did little to imbue the series with changing feminist notions.[6]
Her total screen time as Moneypenny in 14 films was less than two hours, and she spoke fewer than 200 words.[7]
As Miss Moneypenny
Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
Caroline Bliss
Caroline Bliss was only featured in two James Bond movies (the only two Timothy Dalton starred in as James Bond). Although, her role in Licence to Kill was little more than a cameo. She is the only actress to play Moneypenny while wearing glasses. She is also the youngest actress to play Moneypenny.[8]
In a commercial for London's 2012 Olympic bid, Bond once again suited up as Miss Moneypenny. She appeared alongside Roger Moore, who played 007 between 1973 and 1985.
Naomie Harris
The role of Miss Moneypenny was not cast in the following Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The character eventually returned in the 2012 film, Skyfall, under the alias 'Eve', played by Naomie Harris. It is only at the end of Skyfall that agent 'Eve' is revealed to be Moneypenny.
He played the role of Frederick Gray, the Minister of Defence in six James Bond films between 1977 and 1987:
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) (in this film Bond calls him "Freddie" – in private, after the briefing at the naval base – when Gray tells him that he is to go to Egypt.)
In 1972 Michael G. Wilson joined Eon Productions, the production company responsible for the James Bond film series dating back to 1962 that began with his stepfather Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Wilson specifically worked in Eon Productions's legal department until taking a more active role as an assistant to Cubby Broccoli for the film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). In 1979 Wilson became executive producer of the film Moonraker and since has been an executive producer or producer in every James Bond film, currently co-producing with his half-sister Barbara.[11]
Cameo Roles
Goldfinger (1964) – soldier at Fort Knox (uncredited)
Quantum of Solace (2008) – Man sitting in green armchair in Haitian hotel lobby (uncredited)
Skyfall (2012) – Pallbearer at the funeral of MI6 agents (scene cut from final film)
Spectre (2015) – Government official seen discussing positive result of Nine Eyes vote with Max Denbigh (C), alongside his son Gregg Wilson in his first cameo appearance.
Walter Gotell
A German-British actor, Walter Gotell plays General Gogol, head of the KGB, in multiple Bond films.[12]
Gotell won the role of General Alexis Gogol in The Spy Who Loved Me for being a look-alike of the former head of Soviet secret police Lavrentiy Beria. His first role in the James Bond films came in 1963, when he played the henchman Morzeny in From Russia with Love. Starting in the late 1970s, he played the recurring role of General Gogol in the James Bond series, beginning with The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977. The character returned in Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985) and The Living Daylights (1987). As the Cold War developed, the role of leader of the KGB was seen to change attitudes to the West – from direct competitor to collaborator. His final appearance, as the Cold War began to become less imminent, sees him transferred to a different, more diplomatic role.[13]
Hartford, née Brown, appeared in two EON films, 41 years apart. In Thunderball, she dances impromptu with Bond at the Kiss Kiss Club before Fiona Volpe cuts in. Her character presumes Volpe to be Bond's wife. Hartford was married at the time to Huntington Hartford who owned Paradise Island, a filming location for the film. In 2006's Casino Royale, she sits directly across from Bond when he plays poker against Dimitrios at the Ocean Club, founded by her ex-husband, again on Paradise Island.
Shane Rimmer played three different characters in three films. He also provided (uncredited) voice over-dubbing for the character of Hamilton in Live and Let Die (1973).
Eunice Gayson plays Sylvia Trench, James Bond's fetching girlfriend in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love). Originally, Gayson was going to be cast as Miss Moneypenny, but the part went to Lois Maxwell instead. Gayson was originally to have been a regular in the Bond film series, but her character, Sylvia Trench, was dropped.
American actor Richard Kiel plays the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore. He stands at a towering height of 7 feet 2 inches (2.18 m).[18]
Martine Beswick has two appearances in the James Bond film series. Although she auditioned for the first Bond film Dr. No, she was cast in the second film From Russia with Love as the fiery gypsy girl Zora. She engaged in the famous "catfight" scene with her rival Vida (played by former Miss IsraelAliza Gur). She was incorrectly billed as "Martin Beswick" in the title sequence. Beswick then appeared as the ill-fated Paula Caplan in Thunderball. She had been away from the Caribbean so long that she was required to sunbathe constantly for two weeks before filming, in order to look like a local.[20]
Martine Beswick film appearances in the James Bond film series:
British actor Bob Simmons, although uncredited, is notable in appearing as 007 in the pre-title sequences of the first three Bond films. He also appeared, uncredited, in the roles of three villains in later films.
Dr. No (1962) – James Bond in Gunbarrel Sequence (uncredited)
