A 007 Trivia Primer

James Bond is a character created by Ian Fleming in 1952. He has been featured in 12 novels and two short story collections as well as 22 films (the second most successful film franchise to date), starting with Dr. No in 1962, by EON Productions.

Here are some interesting tidbits about James Bond, the spy we love. See how much you know about this famous—or is that infamous—character.

Lineage

In You Only Live Twice we learn that Bond’s mother is a Swiss woman named Monique Delacroix while his father is the Scotsman Andrew Bond, of Glencoe.

Education

Bond briefly attended Eton College at about age 12, before leaving due to “girl trouble.” In the story “From a View to a Kill” he is sent off to his father’s school, Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland. In The Spy Who Loved Me, an acquaintance identifies Bond as a Cambridge graduate.

Home, Sweet Home

Bond has a flat off Kings Road in Chelsea, which is looked after by his elderly Scottish housekeeper, May.

All in Fun

David Niven played James Bond in a 1967 satire titled Casino Royale, lightly based on the similarly titled Bond book.

Bad Habits

In Fleming’s stories, Bond is a heavy smoker: 60 cigarettes a day. On film, Sean Connery’s, George Lazenby’s and Timothy Dalton’s Bonds were all smokers. In Roger Moore’s and Pierce Brosnan’s films, the character does not smoke cigarettes but does puff away on the occasional cigar. Bond has not been seen smoking (it was a cigar, in Die Another Day) since 2002. In fact, in Tomorrow Never Dies, Brosnan’s second film, Bond says of a Russion who smokes, “Filthy Habit.” Daniel Craig’s Bond doesn’t smoke at all.

The film character orders his martinis “shaken, not stirred.” In the books, Bond consumes a total of 317 drinks (101 whiskies, 35 sakes, 30 glasses of champagne and just 19  vodka martinis), an average of one drink every seven pages.

No. 7

The “double-0” prefix in Bond’s code number, 007, tells us he has discretionary licence to kill. He earned his 00  status with two kills, outlined in Casino Royale. He assassinated a Japanese spy at Rockefeller Center in New York City, then a Norwegian double agent in Stockholm, whom he stabs while he sleeps. The literary Bond sometimes disobeys kill orders outright, as in “The Living Daylights.”

The Debate

One theory holds that “James Bond” is a code name used by a long line of secret agents. While this idea would explain Bond’s longevity and changes in appearance (on film), the idea has not gained popularity. And the only real evidence to support the theory is Lazenby’s line in the pre-title sequence of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, when a Bond girl runs away and he says, “This never happened to the other fella.”