There have been many action films made in the past sixty years or so, but a specific film comes to the mind of viewers when they hear of the famous Secret Service Intelligence Office named James Bond. The movie begins with the widely-known theme song that accompanies the opening title; then the film commences with a mixture of expensive explosions, killings, spies and secrets, fast cars, top-notch weapons, tuxedos, and high-intensity action scenes. James Bond has been the face of British action movies for the past fifty-three years. Before all of the successfully made, action-packed Bond movies were made and released, there were the classic Bond novels by author Ian Fleming. In those 1950s novels, we first meet the central figure of his stories, the man with the license to kill—Bond, James Bond.
James Bond, the prominent character of Fleming’s creation, was the central figure of his fictional writings. Bond, often referred to by his code number, 007, held the position of an intelligence officer in the British Secret Service and Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, being the protagonist of all the novels, films, comics, and video games that followed. Bond was the ultimate secret spy who was classy, loyal to his boss “M” (who was said to be a character mimicked after Fleming’s real-life boss, Admiral Godfrey), and always did his best work with the best intentions and attempts. During World War II, Fleming had frequently mentioned to his friends that he was eager to write spy novels, and finally, after marrying his girlfriend in 1952, he began his journey as a novelist while at his island vacation home.1
Bond was the main character of twelve novels, nine short stories, a plethora of video games and comic books, and twenty-six films, in which the character Bond was portrayed by seven different actors throughout the years of the franchise. Despite the content within these books and movies, there was quite a number of real-life elements taken from Fleming’s experiences and his own continuing imagination being represented in his literary work, as well as executed on-screen. Although Bond is seen as a hero in many ways, upon the creation of the character, Fleming admitted once that Bond was meant to be the opposite, saying, “I never intended my leading character, James Bond, to be a hero. I intended him to be a sort of blunt instrument wielded by a government department…But of course, he’s always referred to as my hero. I don’t see him as a hero myself.”2
Despite these intentions for his character, Fleming took a lot of inspiration from real-life situations in his military career as well as with the people he met along the way. Fleming gained most of the inspiration for the James Bond character from individuals he knew during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division. He once admitted that the character was, “a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war,” allowing his readers and viewers to understand just how bulletproof, smart, and insanely brave the Bond character was intended to be seen as. Even the name of James Bond was taken from the name of an American ornithologist of the same name, who was a Caribbean bird expert. Fleming was himself an active bird-watcher, and owned a copy of James Bond’s books on bird-watching, and later went on to explain to his wife how he felt the name James Bond had an impact on him. The use of the name would also serve as some symbol of simplicity, as Fleming felt that a complicated or unique name would take away from the adventures Bond would endure in his novels.3
The individual characteristics that make up who James Bond is, was a reflection of who Fleming was himself. As Fleming once described him, “James Bond is what every man would like to be, and what every woman would like between her sheets,” from the kind of tastes he obtained and the traits he acquired, to the many experiences that Bond has gone through, all were illustrations of Fleming as a high-ranking, handsome, charismatic secret agent who enjoyed the rush of fulfilling his duties in the most adventurous ways.4
- Encyclopedia Britannica, September 2013, s.v. “James Bond.” ↵
- Guy Burnett, “Nobody Does It Better: Ian Fleming’s James Bond Turns Sixty,” Society 51, no.2 (2014): 175-179. ↵
- John Pearson, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 (London, England: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1973), 1-16, 26-34. ↵
- Guy Burnett, “Nobody Does It Better: Ian Fleming’s James Bond Turns Sixty,” Society 51, no.2 (2014): 175-179. ↵
51 comments
Caroline Bush
Great article! I never really got into the James Bond movies until I got older but I still enjoyed them nevertheless. I really enjoyed reading about how Fleming found inspiration in his life to create such a iconic character. I always thought that the name James Bond would have come from a really cool war veteran or a rugged hero from a novel. I never would have guess it came from a bird watcher, but I guess that’s what makes James Bonds creation so interesting. Overall I really enjoyed this article and defiantly learned something new about a character I thought I knew pretty well.
Iris Henderson
Picking out your favorite Bond actor is basically a favorite past time of most families it feels like. Also, it was interesting to learn how the author, Fleming, never intended for the James Bond character to be a hero. As well as, the fact that he was inspired by some true events from the experiences of naval officers. I also enjoyed that fact that James Bond’s name was influenced by, an American, Caribbean bird expert.
Rafael Lopez-Rodriguez
Very interesting article! I have heard about James Bond but it’s been a while since I’ve seen a spy movie. The last one I recall was Spy Kids. But I learned things I did not know from James Bond in this article. It is amazing that he took inspiration from his military career to be a part of these action packed films. James Bond will forever be a fan favorite spy character and his movies are never going to get old.
Derek Esquivel
I really liked this article and I chose to read it because everybody knows who James Bonds is. He is the most iconic figure in all types of spy movies and just about every single person knows his most famous phrase of him simply saying his name. Having read this article has put a much better understanding of how James Bond had come to be. It was very well put together and actually helped me know a little more about how James Bond came to be.
Marlene Lozano
Almost everyone knows who James Bond is because of his famous saying and his fast car. This article was interesting and detailed on the history of James Bond. I did not know that the inspiration of James Bond and his character was from a bird watcher and people he knew in the Naval Intelligence Division. I found it interesting that the Bonds movies were based off a book series.
Erin Vento
I really had no clue that the James Bond character or even the movies was based off a book series- not mention that Bond was based off the characteristics of real people the author met in the military. I like how you showed that there’s more to the character than you would typically think. It made the whole franchise just that more interesting.
Regina De La Parra
I love watching James Bond movies! I am glad I decided to read this article. I knew some of the story behind the movies and the character but I did not know it all, like how he wasn’t meant to be a hero or how the creator doesn’t even refer to him as a hero. I have always found Bond to be a very interesting and cool character and I believe it has marked the lives of many. Great article Sarah!!
Evian-loren Salgado
I loved reading this article due to the fact that I absolutely love the James Bond Novels as well as the movies. I think this article was well written and is very interesting. As many times as I have read the names I had no idea that Ian Fleming got the name James Bond from a bird watcher, which I think is rather interesting.
Joshua Castro
This was such a fun article to read! I’m a big James Bond fan and getting to know the history behind the creation of the character adds to the thrill! It was extremely interesting to find out that Bond was a character based off of the combined qualities of the people that Fleming had met during the war. I was also surprised to find out that Fleming did not intend for Bond to be the hero of the stories, but simply a tool to be used by the government!
Cristina Cabello
I am a fan of the James Bond movies. I like how detailed the article was about its history. I never really read about the creators of these films. But to find out that they were novels is really cool. I am not a huge reader but I do like to read books that will eventually become movies. This article was well written and very informative. By describing how the name became James Bond.