|
Thunderball (novel)
''Thunderball'' is the ninth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, and the eighth full-length Bond novel. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 27 March 1961, where the initial print run of 50,938 copies quickly sold out. The first novelisation of an unfilmed James Bond screenplay, it was born from a collaboration by five people: Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, although the controversial shared credit of Fleming, McClory and Whittingham was the result of a courtroom decision. The story centres on the theft of two atomic bombs by the crime syndicate SPECTRE and the subsequent attempted blackmail of the Western powers for their return. James Bond, Secret Service operative 007, travels to the Bahamas to work with his friend Felix Leiter, seconded back into the CIA for the investigation. ''Thunderball'' also introduces SPECTRE's leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the first of three appearances in Bond novels, with ''On Her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing. While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels. Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, '' Casino Royale'', in 1952. It was a success, with three print runs being commissio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)
''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the tenth novel and eleventh book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. After the relative disappointment of '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', the author made a concerted effort to produce another novel adhering to the tried and tested formula. The initial and secondary print runs sold out, with over 60,000 books sold in the first month, double that of the previous book. Fleming wrote the book in Jamaica whilst the first film in the Eon Productions series of films, ''Dr. No'', was being filmed nearby. ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with ''Thunderball'' and concludes with ''You Only Live Twice''. The story centres on Bond's ongoing search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident; through contact with the College of Arms in London Bond finds Blofeld based in Switzerland. After meeting him i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M (James Bond)
M is a codename held by a number of fictional characters in Ian Fleming's James Bond book and film series; the characters are the current or past Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, the agency known as MI6. Fleming based the character on a number of people he knew who commanded sections of British intelligence. M has appeared in the novels by Fleming and seven continuation authors, as well as appearing in twenty-four films. In the Eon Productions series of films, M has been portrayed by four actors: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench and Ralph Fiennes, the incumbent; in the two independent productions, M was played by John Huston, David Niven and Edward Fox (actor), Edward Fox. Background Fleming based much of M's character on Rear Admiral John Henry Godfrey, John Godfrey, who was Fleming's superior at the Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom), Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. After Fleming's death, Godfrey complained "He turned me in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Conti
Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1983 film ''Reuben, Reuben''. Early life Tommaso Antonio Conti was born on 22 November 1941 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, the son of hairdressers Mary McGoldrick and Alfonso Conti. He was brought up Roman Catholic, but is now antireligious. His father was Italian, while his mother was born and raised in Scotland to Irish parents. Conti was educated at independent Catholic boys' school Hamilton Park and at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, both in Glasgow. Career Conti is a theatre, film, and television actor. He began working with the Dundee Repertory in 1959. He appeared on Broadway in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' in 1979, and in London, he played the lead in '' Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell'' at the Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor), of William Gordon in the 2005 '' Mangal Pandey: The Rising'' film, Edward Fairfax Rochester in a BBC television adaptation of ''Jane Eyre'' and as Captain Flint in the Starz television series '' Black Sails''. Stephens was one of the leads in the Netflix science fiction series ''Lost in Space'', which began streaming in 2018. Early life Stephens, the younger son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens, was born on 21 April 1969 at the Middlesex Hospital in Fitzrovia, London. He was educated at Aldro School and Seaford College. He then trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Career Stephens began his film career with the role of Othello in 1992, in Sal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Jarvis (actor)
Martin Jarvis OBE (born 4 August 1941) is an English actor and a producer of radio drama. Described by the BBC as "one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors", he has had a varied career in theatre, film and television, and is particularly noted for radio acting and voicing audiobooks. Early life Jarvis was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to Denys Harry Jarvis and Margot Lillian Scottney, and grew up in South Norwood and Sanderstead. He was educated at Whitgift School, an independent school in Croydon, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he won the Vanbrugh Award and the silver medal. Theatre work Jarvis has acted in many stage productions in London and abroad, including alongside Diana Rigg and Natascha McElhone in Joanna Murray-Smith's ''Honour'' at London's Wyndham's Theatre in 2006. His other stage work includes ''Woman in Mind'' and '' Henceforward...'' by Alan Ayckbourn, ''Other Places'' by Harold Pinter, ''Exchange'' by Michael Frayn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Never Say Never Again
''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fleming. The novel had been previously adapted in a 1965 film of the same name. ''Never Say Never Again'' was not produced by Eon Productions, the usual producer of the Bond series, but by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm, and was distributed by Warner Bros. instead of United Artists. The film was executive produced by Kevin McClory, one of the original writers of the ''Thunderball'' storyline. McClory retained the filming rights of the novel following a long legal battle dating from the 1960s. Sean Connery played the role of Bond for the seventh and final time, marking his return to the character 12 years after '' Diamonds Are Forever''. The film's title is a reference to Connery's reported declaration in 1971 that he would "never" play that ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sean Connery
Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Originating the role in '' Dr. No'', Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions' entries and made his final appearance in '' Never Say Never Again''. Following his third appearance as Bond in '' Goldfinger'' (1964), in June 1965 ''Time'' magazine observed "James Bond has developed into the biggest mass-cult hero of the decade". Connery began acting in smaller theatre and television productions until his breakout role as Bond. Although he did not enjoy the off-screen attention the role gave him, the success of the Bond films brought Connery offers from notable directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston. Their films in which Connery appeared included ''Marnie'' (1964), '' The Hill'' (1965), ''Murder on the Orient Express'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eon Productions
Eon Productions Ltd. is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''Bond'' films Eon was started by film producers Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman in 1961, at the same time they became partners and sought financing for '' Dr. No''. The year before they formed Danjaq, which for legal reasons became Eon's holding company, from which it licenses the rights to produce the ''Bond'' films. Broccoli had been interested in the ''Bond'' novel rights for several years but was dissuaded from pursuing the project by his former partner. When they dissolved their relationship he was free to pursue the property, for which Saltzman, a novice to film production, had taken a gamble to acquire. The two were introduced by a New York writer who was acquainted with both, and formed a partnership within a week of meeting. The enterpri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderball (film)
''Thunderball'' is a 1965 spy film and the fourth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins. The film follows Bond's mission to find two NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE, which holds the world for ransom of £100 million in diamonds under its threat to destroy an unspecified metropolis in either the United Kingdom or the United States (later revealed to be Miami). The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo, the card-playing, eyepatch-wearing SPECTRE Number Two. Backed by CIA agent Felix Leiter and Largo's mistress, Domino Derval, Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, which is owned by News Corp. Times Newspapers also publishes ''The Times''. The two papers were founded independently and have been under common ownership since 1966. They were bought by News International in 1981. ''The Sunday Times'' has a circulation of just over 650,000, which exceeds that of its main rivals, including ''The'' ''Sunday Telegraph'' and ''The'' ''Observer'', combined. While some other national newspapers moved to a tabloid format in the early 2000s, ''The Sunday Times'' has retained the larger broadsheet format and has said that it would continue to do so. As of December 2019, it sells 75% more copies than its sister paper, ''The Times'', which is published from Monday to Saturday. The paper publishes ''The Sunday Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
