BOND ALLIES

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BOND ALLIES (RECURRING) IN FILMS
Source: Wikipedia.org

Felix Leiter

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Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series. The character is an operative for the CIA and Bond’s friend. After losing a leg and his hand to a shark attack, Leiter joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The name “Felix” comes from the middle name of Fleming’s friend Ivor Bryce, while the name “Leiter” was the surname of Fleming’s friend Marion Oates Leiter Charles, then wife of Thomas Leiter.
Leiter also appeared in novels by continuation authors, as well as ten films and one television programme, “Casino Royale” (1954), where the character became a British agent, Clarence Leiter, played by Michael Pate. In the Eon Productions series of films, Leiter has been portrayed by Jack Lord in “Dr. No” (1962), Cec Linder in “Goldfinger” (1964), Rik Van Nutter in “Thunderball” (1965), Norman Burton in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971), David Hedison in “Live and Let Die” (1973) and “Licence to Kill” (1989), John Terry in “The Living Daylights” (1987) and Jeffrey Wright in “Casino Royale” (2006), “Quantum of Solace” (2008) and “No Time to Die” (2021) ; in the independent production “Never Say Never Again” (1983), the part was played by Bernie Casey. Leiter has also appeared in the video game “007 Legends” (2012).

General Gogol

Walter Gotell as General Gogol
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General Gogol is the head of the KGB in the films “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “Moonraker” (1979), “For Your Eyes Only” (1981), “Octopussy” (1983), and “A View to a Kill” (1985). In his final appearance, in “The Living Daylights” (1987), the character has become a post-Glasnost envoy in the Foreign Service and is succeeded as head of the KGB by General Pushkin. In the end credits of the film, his first name is listed as “Anatol”, although in “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), M referred to him as Alexis. Gogol is played by Walter Gotell (who also played a S.P.E.C.T.R.E. henchman in “From Russia with Love” (1963)). With the KGB, Gogol often allies himself with Bond to stave off the possibility of war with the West, an ideal that is not always shared with his comrades – such as when he argues against Soviet General Orlov‘s reckless proposal of military conquest in “Octopussy” (1983). Only in “For Your Eyes Only” (1981) and “A View to a Kill” (1985) does Gogol act as an enemy but, even then, his actions are more those of a respectful competitor. He particularly opposes the methods of the villain Max Zorin in “A View to a Kill” (1985). General Gogol has a secretary named Miss Rublevitch.

Sir Frederick Gray

Geoffrey Keen as Sir Frederick Gray
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Sir Frederick Gray is the Minister of Defence in the films “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), “Moonraker” (1979), “For Your Eyes Only” (1981), “Octopussy” (1983), “A View to a Kill” (1985), and “The Living Daylights” (1987)). He is played by Geoffrey Keen.

In “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977), after being briefed on his forthcoming mission to Egypt, Bond holds a private discussion with Gray, to whom he refers as “Freddie”. It is never revealed how they know each other well enough for Bond to be so informal. In the next few films, Bond calls Gray “Minister,” since most of their scenes include other officials.

Gabriele Ferzetti as Marc-Ange Draco
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Marc-Ange Draco

Draco appears in the novels “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1963), working as an ally of Bond and “Never Dream of Dying” (2001), where 007’s former father-in-law turns out to be linked to the villain of the Union. He also appears in the film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969), portrayed by Gabriele Ferzetti.

René Mathis

Giancarlo Giannini as Rene Mathis
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Mathis is a long-time friend of Bond and an agent of the French secret service DGSE. He is a main character in “Casino Royale“ (1953) and a supporting character in “From Russia, with Love” (1957), “Never Dream of Dying” (2001) and “Devil May Care” (2008). It is Mathis who captures the SMERSH villain Rosa Klebb, and he is the one who uses CPR to keep Bond alive until a doctor arrives after Bond is poisoned by Klebb.

In “Casino Royale” (1953), it is revealed that he originally met Bond on assignment in Monte Carlo prior to World War II, when Bond was trying to crack down on a group of Romanians cheating at a local casino with the use of invisible ink. Mathis is reassigned to work with Bond at the time of the events in “Casino Royale” (1953), where he poses as a radio salesman, assisting Bond and introducing him to Vesper Lynd.

In the novel “Thunderball” (1961), Bill Tanner asks Moneypenny to send a copy of SPECTRE’s ransom demand letter to Mathis at the Deuxième Bureau. In “Never Dream of Dying” (2001), he is captured by the head of the Union Le Gérant and is blinded with lasers. Bond later saves him from imprisonment. A younger version of Mathis appears in the “Young Bond” short story “A Hard Man to Kill”. This may have been the first time the two met.

The characters of Mathis and Felix Leiter are combined to form Clarance Leiter in the original 1954 “Climax! production of Casino Royale” (1954). Mathis first appears onscreen in the 1967 film “Casino Royale“, played by Duncan Macrae. In the 2006 adaptation of “Casino Royale” (2006), Mathis is an MI6 agent, played by Giancarlo Giannini. He reprises the role in “Quantum of Solace” (2008), where he is murdered. Bond later avenges his death.

Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper
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Sheriff J.W. Pepper

Sheriff J.W. Pepper is a parish sheriff in Louisiana. He appears in the films “Live and Let Die” (1973) and “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974). Played By Clifton James, he is mostly used as comic relief, especially and memorably for his somewhat bigoted attitudes and his tendency to speak loudly about whatever is on his mind.

Quarrel

John Kitzmiller as Quarrel
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Quarrel is a Cayman Islander living in Jamaica. He first appears in the novel “Live and Let Die” (1954) as Bond’s guide while 007 is investigating Mr. Big. Quarrel later appears in the novel “Dr. No” (1958) to help Bond infiltrate Dr. Julius No‘s island, Crab Key. The only Bond film in which Quarrel appears is the 1962 film “Dr. No”, played by John Kitzmiller where, as in the novel, he is killed by Dr. No’s mythical “dragon”. For the film adaptation of “Live and Let Die” (1973), Bond teams up with Quarrel’s son, Quarrel Jr., played by Roy Stewart.

John Strangways and Mary Trueblood

Timothy Moxon as John Strangways
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John Strangways is a former Lieutenant Commander in the special branch of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He makes his first appearance in the novel “Live and Let Die” (1954) as the chief Secret Service agent in the Caribbean. Strangways is roughly 35 years old and wears a black patch over one eye. He later appears in the novel “Dr. No” (1958), where he and his Number 2, Mary Trueblood (a former Chief Officer in the Women’s Royal Naval Service), are assassinated for prying into Dr. Julius No’s business. Mary Trueblood is based on Fleming’s secretary from The Sunday Times Una Trueblood.

Dolores Keator as Mary Trueblood
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In the films, Strangways makes his first and only appearance in “Dr. No” (1962) where, as in the novel, he is killed for investigating Dr. No. Contrary to the novel, however, Strangways does not wear an eye patch in film. He is portrayed by Timothy Moxon and voiced by Robert Rietty (who would later voice villains Emilio Largo in “Thunderball” (1965) and Ernst Stavro Blofeld in “For Your Eyes Only” (1981)). Mary is portrayed by Dolores Keator and dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl; neither actor who were Jamaican residents were flown to London for the final dubbing of the film.

Tiger Tanaka

Tetsuro Tamba as Tiger Tanaka
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Tiger Tanaka is an ally to Bond in the film “You Only Live Twice” (1967). He is the head of the Japanese secret service, and resides within a secret underground office complex beneath the streets of Tokyo – his identity being the most closely guarded secret in Japan. He supplies an army of ninjas to attack Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Tanaka helps Bond disguise himself to look Japanese so that Blofeld will not recognise him. Tanaka arranges for Bond to marry a girl native to the land in order to provide extra cover. Kissy Suzuki is Bond’s new wife and, together, Bond, Suzuki, and Tanaka succeed in attacking Blofeld’s volcano base, even though Blofeld survived. Tanaka is portrayed By Tetsurō Tamba. He also appears in the 007 novels “You Only Live Twice“ (1964) and “The Man with the Red Tattoo” (2002).

Jack Wade

Joe Don Baker as Jack Wade
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Jack Wade is an American CIA agent who appears in the films “GoldenEye“ (1995) and “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997). He is played by Joe Don Baker, who also appears in “The Living Daylights” (1987) as Brad Whitaker, a mercenary and international arms dealer, who is one of the two main villains in that film.

Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky

Robbie Coltrane as Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky
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Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky is an ex-KGB agent-turned-Russian mafia head who runs a bar, a casino, and a caviar factory. When he was younger (and a KGB agent), a conflict with Bond ended with Bond shooting Zukovsky in the leg, causing him to walk with a limp. However, after leaving the KGB, Zukovsky does not hold a grudge towards Bond, especially when dealing with Bond means turning a profit. Played by Robbie Coltrane, Zukovsky makes two appearances in the films, his first being in “GoldenEye” (1995) before being shot and mortally wounded by Elektra King in “The World Is Not Enough” (1999). He lives long enough after being shot to execute a trick shot using a gun hidden within his cane, enabling Bond to escape King’s trap.