George Lazenby, now 84, must have had some serious shoes to wear when he was cast as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1968.
Sadly, the actor ill-fitted the shoes once owned by the renowned Sean Connery after following bad advice.
After Lazenby’s meteoric rise to fame ended, the true playboy turned his attention to raising a family and caring for his late son, who died in 1994 of a brain tumor.
After the introduction of Dr. Well in 1963, the James Bond film franchise rose to fame with seven different actors in several films over five decades bringing the fictional character to life.
The first to portray the elegant and seductive James Bond in five films between 1962 and 1967 before tiring of the role is the late Sean Connery, whose image came to be associated with the secret service agent.
“It got me excited about the whole Bond thing,” Connery said in a 1965 interview with Playboy (via Time ). Being recognized as a fan, he continued, was “a bit boring”.
After his departure, the film’s producers faced a huge challenge: they needed to find a new actor who could live up to the hype of the famous character.
Broccoli, chocolate and magic When George Lazenby, then 29, landed his breakthrough role in the sixth episode of the legendary James Bond story, he was an unknown actor in Australia.
And all it took was broccoli, a little chocolate and a lot of charisma.
Born in 1939, the model caught the eye of director Albert R. Broccoli, who produced a number of James Bond films during his career, including 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, when he appeared in a series of Fry’s Chocolate Cream commercials.
According to IMDB, Lazenby reportedly went above and beyond to land the part Connery left behind.
That includes shelling out his last dollar “to get a custom suit from Sean Connery’s tailor that was originally made for Connery, along with buying a very Bond-looking Rolex watch.”
Although the man only worked as a model promoting Fry’s Chocolate, producers Harry Saltzman and Broccoli saw potential in him and decided he would make a great James Bond.
negative evaluation
The release of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969 drew harsh criticism and wore down Connery’s analogies.
Stretch pants, Aston-Martin and former Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel said Lazenby “doesn’t fill Sean Connery’s shoes.” The new 007 is less of a man and more of a boy. He doesn’t order his food with the same enthusiasm and generally doesn’t have that smug smile that Connery wore and gave to the audience.’
The actor told the Daily Mail, “I didn’t get upset, so I didn’t read them,” referring to the negative reviews.
Plus, the real playboy wasn’t aware of the negative reviews until he came across one in a nightclub. “…one of the top reporters at the time told me, I owe you an apology for writing a bad article about you, but Brokolice and Saltzman told me you were open for the season.”
According to him, it was “open season”, “because I wasn’t signed for any more films anyway, it was embarrassing for them.”
“The bond is over.
Lazenby received a million dollar contract and the option to play James Bond in six more films, even though the reviews were unfavorable.
However, his manager advised him not to sign.
“Ronan O’Rahilly, my manager, wasn’t too keen. Don’t do it, he said. Clint Eastwood is a man who makes Westerns in Italy for $500,000 apiece. You can show two instead.”
Lazenby continues: “We believed Bond was over.
We were wrong.”
Deleted from the list
Following his refusal to sign Bond’s contract, Lazenby stated that he “was blacklisted by the film industry” because “they said I was difficult”.
After his meteoric rise and fall, Lazenby worked in television and film in supporting roles for decades.
“Acting wasn’t my calling,” he says, “but playing Bond was.”
Ladies man
Despite not being a big movie star, the ladies continued to like him as a man, a reputation he maintained after Bond.
He told the Telegraph: “One of the best things in the world is being a lady.”
He married his first wife Christina Gannet in 1971 and eventually settled down.
Together, Melanie (b. 1973) and Zachary (who battled a brain tumor for eight years before dying in 1994) are the couple’s children.
Gannet claims that when their son died, the “devastated” father felt “helpless and frustrated” at his inability to heal Zack.
“The little boy on my right arm died at the age of 19 with a metastatic brain tumor,” the Australian woman writes with a photo of herself with Gannet and two children, which she shared on Facebook. I still cry every time I think about it.”
Lazenby divorced Gannett a year after Zachary died and was married to tennis gold medalist Pam Shriver from 2002 to 2011.
George, Jr. was born in 2004 and twins Kate and Sam were born in 2005, making the couple a total of three children.
Despite the fact that his current life would be drastically different had he continued to play James Bond, Lazenby, who turns 85 in September, says his greatest achievements are his children.
Lazenby adds: “My children are the real achievements in my life,” referring to his family, who often appear with him in his social media photos. Great satisfaction with everyone.”
George Lazenby’s journey from an unknown actor to the iconic role of James Bond is a testament to the heights and challenges of fame. Despite stepping into a role once defined by Sean Connery, Lazenby’s portrayal in *On Her Majesty’s Secret Service* was met with mixed reactions and his Bond career ended almost as quickly as it began. Although critics may have found him lacking in comparison to his predecessor, a brief stint in one of the most sought-after film roles left an indelible mark on his life.Â
But Lazenby’s story goes beyond the screen. After his decision to leave Bond, he accepted a different kind of legacy – his family. His personal life, marked by both joy and sorrow, especially the tragic loss of his son Zacharias, became his focus. Despite the fame that could define his career, Lazenby found true fulfillment in fatherhood. As he reflects on his life at the age of 84, he considers his children to be his greatest achievement, a sentiment that goes far beyond his fleeting moments of fame as 007.