George Lazenby
"Just Keep My Martini Cold"
George Lazenby was the second actor to ever portray James Bond on the movie screen. After Sean Connery had given up doing Bond films, the producers searched for a new 007; and Lazenby was it.
Producers "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman looked at several candidates to replace Connery. Among them were Anthony Rogers, John Richardson, Robert Campbell and Hans de Vries, but Lazenby got the nod reportedly after performing well in a screen-test fight scene. It is reported that Lazenby even went as far as to get a haircut exactly like Connery's. Also, rumour has it that Broccoli offered Lazenby the role of 007 while at the barber.
Fans at the time were not very receptive to life after Connery in the Bond sense, which is why Lazenby's 007 adventure, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was considered an outright failure at the boxoffice. There was also much conflict on the set of the film between Lazenby and director Peter Hunt as well as differences with bond girl Diana Rigg.
Considering the flop of his film, the strained relations he had with crew members and "bad advice" he recieved, George Lazenby announced he would not do any further Bond films. Lazenby was signed to a 3-picture deal which would have allowed him to do Diamonds are Forever and Live and Let Die, which were eventually done by Sean Connery and Roger Moore, respectively.
Ironically, Lazenby's one and only Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, is considered by many to be one of the series' best films.
Lazenby went on to do various films of a low-caliber but he never gained as much popularity and fame as he had while playing Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 fo a brief time in 1969. To this day, he insists he got "bad advice" to renounce his role of Bond and still would like another chance to play the British secret agent. He frequently attends Bond conventions and works on-and-off in selective films. Unfortunately, Lazenby will be remembered as the man who was cast in Sean Connery's shadow and had the misfortune of washing out under the pressure.
