Reginald Bernard John Gadney (20 January 1941 – 1 May 2018) was a painter, thriller-writer and an occasional screenwriter or screenplay adaptor. Gadney was also an officer in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

in the 1960s and later wrote the biopic screenplay ''Goldeneye'' (about author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

) which was filmed in 1989, directed by

Don Boyd Donald William Robertson Boyd (born 11 August 1948 in Nairn, Scotland) is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist. He was a Governor of the London Film School until 2016 and in 2017 was made an Honorary Professor in the Col ...

with

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in ''The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in ''A ...

playing Ian Fleming. Gadney cameoed as the real-life

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, the man who lent his name to Fleming's eponymous spy.

Life

Gadney, the son of the rugby player,

Bernard Gadney Bernard Cecil Gadney (16 July 1909 – 15 November 2000) was an English rugby union footballer who played as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British Lions. Gadney won 14 England caps between 1932 and 1938 and was captain ...

, was born during a secondary air raid on 20 January 1941. His was father was the headmaster at

Malsis School Malsis School located at a mansion known as Malsis Hall in the village of Crosshills, in North Yorkshire, England, was a co-educational independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Inde ...

Cross Hills Cross Hills is a village in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England that is situated halfway between Skipton and Keighley. The village is at the centre of a built-up area that includes the adjoining settlements of Glusburn, Kildwick, ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and Gadney was born in Dorm 10 in the school when

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

bombers, returning across the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

from a raid in either

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, dumped their surplus fuel on the cricket pitch. Gadney was encouraged to paint by his mother, but his early years were entrusted to a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

nanny until wartime regulations saw her interned as an "undesirable alien." Gadney attended

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and then

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards in 1960, where he formed a lasting friendship with Simon Parker-Bowles. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1961. Gadney often joked about his time in the army, stating that it was suggested that it would make a man out of him; Gadney always said that it failed to do that. Whilst in the army, Gadney served in Libya, France and Norway. The latter post saw him working as an attaché and he also qualified as an instructor in winter warfare and Arctic survival. His friendship with Parker-Bowles continued throughout their lives, despite them often not living close to one another. Memorably, on one

Changing of the Guard Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate a ...

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, watched by a temporarily crippled

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also used to describe a number of ...

, Gadney gave the wrong order and instead of swapping over guards they all marched away at the same time leaving no guard behind. The commander was apoplectic and gave both Gadney and Parker-Bowles a dressing down, but Gadney and Parker-Bowles later received a message from the Queen Mother that stated "...how terribly nice it was to see the ceremony done differently." Gadney left the active list of the Coldstream Guards in 1962, but remained on the reserve of officers until 1968. After leaving the army, Gadney attended

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

and then won a scholarship to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. He later taught at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

becoming a Fellow and Pro-Rector. He also worked as the deputy controller of the

National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. Hist ...

. Gadney won a BAFTA in 1983 for his seven-part television serial about

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

starring

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

. In 1989, Gadney's screenplay ''"Goldeneye"'', a biopic of author Ian Fleming, was shot on location in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

with Charles Dance playing Fleming. One of Gadney's stipulations was that it should be part filmed in the Caribbean so that he could get a free holiday out of it. It was Dance's suggestion that Gadney play the real-life character of James Bond, who, in the screenplay, Fleming found birdwatching on his

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n estate.In real life, Fleming had met Bond before and owned one of his books, even going so far as writing to Bond to ask his permission to name his fictional spy after the ornithologist. Fleming took the man's name for his fictional character of

. Gadney used to tell people he was the fifth James Bond who he portrayed between

Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...

and

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

. He also adapted Iris Murdoch's novel ''"The Bell"'' and Minette Walters' novel ''"The Sculptress"'' for television. He died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

in early May 2018 and his funeral was held on 22 May 2018 at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

Personal life

Gadney was married twice; firstly to Annette Kobak and secondly to the restaurant critic Fay Maschler, who he met at a party in 1992. He had two children from his first marriage and three step children from his marriage to Maschler.

Works

Gadney became a full-time writer in 1984, but he still painted, especially portraits in his later life, people he knew personally.

Screenplays

*''"Forgive Our Foolish Ways"'' (1980) *'' The Bell'' (1982) *''"Kennedy"'' (1983) *''

Goldeneye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the ser ...

'' (1989) *''"Iran; Days of Crisis"'' (1991) *''"

The Sculptress ''The Sculptress'' (1993) is a crime novel by English writer Minette Walters. She won an Edgar and a Macavity Award for the book. The novel was adapted as a BBC-TV series in 1996, starring Pauline Quirke as Olive Martin. Synopsis Olive Mart ...

"'' (1996)

Books (fiction)

*''"Drawn Blanc"'' (1970) *''"Somewhere in England"'' (1971) *''"Something worth Fighting For"'' (1974) *''"The Cage"'' (1977) *''"Just When We are Safest"'' (1995) *''"Mother, Son and Holy Ghost"'' (1999) *''"The Achilles Heel"'' (2000) *''"Strange Police"'' (2000) *''"The Scholar of Extortion"'' (2003) *''"Immaculate Deception"'' (2006) *''"Albert Einstein Speaking"'' (2018)

Books (fact)

*''"Cry Hungary! Uprising 1956"'' (1986) *''"Diana: The Final Journey"'' (2007)

Notes

References

External links

*
A preview of Gadney's portraits on Harper's Bazaar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gadney, Reg 1941 births 2018 deaths Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge British thriller writers Deaths from pancreatic cancer People from Craven District 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English painters People educated at Stowe School Coldstream Guards officers Writers from Yorkshire