James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent created by writer Ian Fleming in 1952. Fleming wrote numerous novels and short stories based upon the character and, after his death in 1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley Amis (pseudonym Robert Markham), John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Charlie Higson. In addition, Christopher Wood wrote two screenplay novelisations and other authors have also written various unofficial permutations of the character.

Although initially made famous through the novels and books, James Bond is now best known from the EON Productions film series. Twenty-one films have been made (as of 2006) as well as two that were independently produced and one American television adaptation of Fleming's first novel under legal licence. The EON films are generally referred to as the 'official' films (although its origin is unclear, this terminology is used throughout this article). Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced most of these up until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. From 1995, his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, jointly continued production duties.

To date, six actors have portrayed James Bond in the official series. They are:

Sean Connery (1962–1967; 1971)
George Lazenby (1969)
Roger Moore (1973–1985)
Timothy Dalton (1987–1989)
Pierce Brosnan (1995–2002)
Daniel Craig (2006–present)

In addition and generally considered "unofficial", Barry Nelson portrayed Bond in an Americanised television episode adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. Bob Holness portrayed James Bond in a South African radio adaptation of Moonraker in 1956. Roger Moore acted the role in an episode of a TV comedy show called Mainly Millicent (starring Millicent Martin and guest stars) in summer 1964. This episode is included as a special feature (named Roger Moore as James Bond, Circa 1964) in the newly published Live and Let Die Ultimate Edition DVD. David Niven played the role of James Bond in a non-EON production of Casino Royale in 1967, and Connery reprised the character in another non-EON film, Never Say Never Again in 1983, an update of 1965's Thunderball, in which he also starred. The 1973 BBC documentary Omnibus: The British Hero featured Christopher Cazenove playing Bond in selected scenes from the original novels.

The twenty-first official film, Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as James Bond, premiered on 14 November 2006, with the film going on general release in Asia and the Middle East the following day.

Broccoli and Saltzman's family company, Danjaq, LLC, has owned the James Bond film series, through EON, since the start. It became co-owner with United Artists Corporation since the mid-1970s, when Saltzman sold UA his share of Danjaq. Currently, Columbia Pictures and MGM (United Artists' parent) co-distribute the franchise.

In addition to novels and films, Bond is a prominent character in many computer and video games, comic strips and comic books, and has been the subject of many parodies.

Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) (more commonly known as MI6). He was created in February 1952 by Ian Fleming while on holiday at his Jamaican estate called Goldeneye. The hero of Fleming's tale, James Bond, was named after an American ornithologist of the same name who was an expert on Caribbean birds and had written a definitive book on the subject: Birds of the West Indies. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, owned a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye. Of the name, Fleming once said, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, James Bond was much better than something more interesting like 'Peregrine Maltravers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him but he would be a neutral figure – an anonymous blunt instrument wielded by a Government Department."

Bond's parents are named as Andrew Bond, a Scotsman, and Monique Delacroix from Canton de Vaud in Switzerland (these nationalities had previously been established in On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Bond's Scottish heritage was partly a result of Fleming being impressed with Sean Connery's screen portrayal of his character, whereas Bond's mother was named for a Swiss girl to whom Fleming was once engaged. A novel that was planned but never written would have revealed that Bond's mother was also Scottish. In his fictional biography of Bond, John Pearson gave his birthdate as 11 November (Armistice Day) 1920, although there is no evidence for this in Fleming's novels. Fleming was inspired by a real spy - Dušan Popov, a Serb double agent for both the British and Germans, who was also known as a bit of a "playboy".

After completing the manuscript for what would later be titled Casino Royale, Fleming allowed his friend William Plomer, a poet and later Fleming's editor, to read it. Plomer liked it enough that he gave the manuscript to Jonathan Cape, who did not like it as much, but published it anyway in 1953 due to the fact that Ian was the younger brother of Peter Fleming, an established travel writer who also put in a good word for Ian.

Since the fictional James Bond's creation, hundreds of reports by various news outlets have suggested names for Ian Fleming's inspiration of Bond. Usually these people have a background of some kind in espionage or other covert operations. Although some names share similarities with Bond, none has ever been confirmed by Fleming, Ian Fleming Publications or any of Ian Fleming's biographers such as Fleming's assistant and friend, John Pearson. James Bond may have had its origin in Toronto, Ontario. British Naval Intelligence Commander Ian Fleming was invited by Sir William Stephenson, codename Intrepid, to observe and participate in the SOE subversive warfare training Syllabus at STS-103. Fleming had a private residence located on Avenue Road in Toronto, Canada because the camp was full. On Avenue Road, there was the St. James-Bond Church (Toronto) and the address of the military building (the church was at 1066 Avenue Road) was 1107 Avenue Road (Double ones 0 and 7 thus the number 007). The building no longer exists, but where it once stood is Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School. Marshall McLuhan CSS was built by Bondfield Construction and completed in 2001.

Most researchers agree that James Bond is a highly romanticised version of Fleming himself; the author was known for his jet-setting lifestyle and reputation as a womaniser. Both, for the most part, went to the same schools, like the same foods (e.g., scrambled eggs, pork), have the same habits (e.g., drinking and smoking), share the same view on women (e.g., how they should look and how they should dress), and have similar education and military careers both rising to the rank of Commander. Although the character of Bond is not known to be based on anyone but Fleming himself, the look of James Bond, famed for being "suave and sophisticated", is based on a young Hoagy Carmichael. In Casino Royale the character Vesper Lynd says of Bond, "He reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Other characteristics of Bond's look are said to be based on Fleming, such as his height, his hairstyle and his eye colour.

Fleming did, however, admit to being inspired by true or partially-true events that took place during his career at the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty. Most notably, and the basis for Casino Royale, was a trip to Lisbon that Fleming and the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey, took during World War II en route to the United States. While there they went to the Estoril Casino in Estoril, which, due to the neutral status of Portugal had a number of spies of warring regimes present. Fleming claimed that while there he was cleaned out by a "chief German agent" at a table playing Chemin de Fer; however, Admiral Godfrey tells a different story, that Fleming only played Portuguese businessmen and that afterwards Ian had fantasised about them being German agents and the excitement of cleaning them out. His references to 'Red Indians' in relation to Bond (In Casino Royale, four times, twice on last page) was direct link to his own 30 Assault Unit.


Novels
In February 1952, Ian Fleming began work on his first James Bond novel. At the time, Fleming was the Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers, an organisation owned by the London Sunday Times. Upon accepting the job, Fleming asked that he be allowed two months vacation per year. Between 1953 and his death in 1964, Fleming published 12 full-length novels and one short story collection (a second collection appeared after his death). Later, continuation novels were written by Kingsley Amis (as Robert Markham), John Gardner and Raymond Benson; the last of these books was published in 2002. In 2005 Young Bond, a new series of novels featuring the adventures of Bond as a teenager began, written by Charlie Higson.


Films
Eon Films
The James Bond film series from EON Productions has a number of its own traditions, many of which date back to the very first movie in 1962.


Gun barrel sequence
Since Dr. No, each film has begun with what is known as the James Bond gun barrel sequence, which introduces Agent 007. Appearing to be filmed through a rifled gun barrel, as if from a bullet's perspective, the scene is a side-on view of Bond walking, then quickly turning and shooting. The scene then reddens (signifying the spilling of the would-be assassin's blood); the gun barrel dissolves to a white circle.


Teaser sequence
After this introduction, every film (with the exception of Dr. No) would start with a pre-credits teaser, also popularly known as the "opening gambit". Usually the scene features 007 finishing up a previous mission before taking on the case from the film, and does not always relate to his main objective. Some of the teasers tie in with the plot (as in Live and Let Die). Since The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, they have often involved attention-grabbing action sequences, which have tended to become larger and more elaborate with each film. The World Is Not Enough (1999) holds the record for the longest, running more than 15 minutes, whereas most run about seven to ten minutes.


Opening credits
After the teaser sequence, the opening credits begin, during which an arty display of scantily clad and even (discreetly) naked females can be seen doing a variety of activities from dancing, jumping on off-screen trampolines, to shooting weapons. This title sequence is a trademark and a staple of the series. The best known of the Bond title designers is Maurice Binder, who created them for fourteen films from 1962 to 1989. Since Binder's death in 1991, Daniel Kleinman has designed the credits and has introduced CG elements not present during his predecessor's era. While the credits run, the main theme of the film is usually sung by a popular artist of the time. Until GoldenEye, which featured motifs such as a two headed 'Janus' figure, the backdrop was unrelated to the plot of the film, although the design may reflect an overall theme (e.g., You Only Live Twice uses a Japanese motif as well as images of a volcano, both of which are elements of the movie itself). Goldfinger uses short glimpses of the film projected onto women's bodies, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service uses clips from all of the five preceding films shown running through an hourglass. For Your Eyes Only begins with Sheena Easton singing the title song on-screen. Die Another Day's titles are unusual in that the images advance the storyline by depicting Bond's torture following his capture by the North Koreans. Casino Royale's credits are also atypical in that, instead of presenting the traditional display of silhouetted and scantily clad females, the sequence is a very colourful and animated display, using many symbols from playing cards such as the four suits and the face cards, and depicting violent fighting between coloured silhouettes of men. The credits for GoldenEye depict the fall of the Soviet Union and thus provide a transition from the pre-fall era of the opening sequence to the post-fall setting of the rest of the narrative, which is set nine years later. The Bond films are unusual in retaining full opening and closing credits: since the late 1990s it has become common for most blockbuster films to save detailed credits for the end, with only the title shown at the beginning.


"Bond, James Bond"
Agent 007's famous introduction, "Bond, James Bond", became a catchphrase after it was first uttered (with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth) by Sean Connery in Dr. No. Since then, the phrase has entered the lexicon of Western popular culture as the epitome of polished, understated machismo. On June 21, 2005 it was honoured as the 22nd greatest quotation in cinema history by the American Film Institute as part of their 100 Years Series. To promote the release of Tomorrow Never Dies, trailers were released featuring the character as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan saying, "Bond. You know the rest." Goldeneye in 1995 similarly drew on public familiarity with Bond, when its promotional posters simply read "You know the name. You know the number."


Drinks
Bond's customary beverage order, "Vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred", which was first uttered by him in Goldfinger (although it is actually first said on screen by the villain in Dr. No, and referenced even earlier in the same film), was also honoured as #90 on the same list. However, in "Casino Royale", Craig portrayed the incomplete development of the younger Bond by retorting to a bartender "Do I look like I give a damn?" after being asked if he wanted his martini shaken or stirred. Casino Royale also featured the martini recipe from the Ian Fleming book: 6 parts gin, 2 parts vodka, 1 part Lillet Blanc.


"James Bond will return.."
"Every film, except Dr. No (1962) and Thunderball (1965), has the line: "James Bond will return..." or "James Bond will be back" during or after the final credits. Up until Octopussy (1983), the end-credit line would also name the next title to be produced ("James Bond will return in..."). Over the years, the sequel has been incorrectly named three times. The first, 1964's Goldfinger, announced in early prints that Bond would return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, the producers changed their minds shortly after release and subsequently corrected future editions of the film. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me stated that 007 would be back in For Your Eyes Only, but EON Productions decided to instead take advantage of the Star Wars craze and release Moonraker, whose plot was changed to involve outer space (unlike Goldfinger, however, EON chose not to correct the credits of The Spy Who Loved Me, so the error remains). Thirdly, Octopussy incorrectly states the next film as being From a View to a Kill, the original literary title of A View to a Kill. In the most recent Bond films, the title of the next film has been omitted, saying simply 'James Bond will return'. The liner-notes of a 'Best of Bond' music compilation CD stated that this was because the early films all used titles from Fleming's novels; having outpaced the novels with the current Bond films, the abbreviated form is used instead.


Top:Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore
Above:Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel CraigAmerican actor James Brolin was once a leading contender to play Bond in the 1983 film Octopussy until Roger Moore finally agreed to return. Brolin's three screentests were publicly released for the first time as a special feature named James Brolin: The Man Who Would Be Bond in the Octopussy Ultimate Edition DVD.

Every actor who auditions for the Bond role must always perform a scene from From Russia With Love, where he hears a noise and investigates, only to discover a beautiful stranger on his bed.

There is also lively debate on the best Bond movie, with most major film critics giving the top mark to either From Russia with Love (Connery's favourite, as he re-asserted in a 2002 ABC interview with Sam Donaldson) or its brassy follow-up, Goldfinger. Despite George Lazenby's short tenure in the tuxedo, some reviewers have also warmed to On Her Majesty's Secret Service – Leonard Maltin's TV Movies (a.k.a. Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide) review book states it might have been the best Bond film ever had Connery appeared in it; Raymond Benson concurs in The James Bond Bedside Companion. Casino Royale, the latest Bond, is at present the highest-rated on the IMDb, with 8.0 out of 10.