NPR

In 'Becoming Bond,' A Look At The Man Who Was Only 007 Once

The new Hulu documentary Becoming Bond is all about the man who was only James Bond once: George Lazenby.
George Lazenby, right, and his fiancee, Christina Gannett, shortly before their marriage in 1971.

When Roger Moore died last week at the age of 89, many tributes hailed him as the actor who'd played James Bond the longest. That isn't quite wrong, but it isn't exactly right.

The span between his first 007, , and his last, , was 12 years, during which he played the famous spy in seven movies. But Sean Connery, who'd quit the role with one film remaining on his contract only to be lured back twice, eventually got to seven, too. That is, if you count the non-canonical , released in 1983 — 21 years after hiswhen it competed against an "official" Moore-starring entry, . The latter would be the one where Bond goes undercover as a circus clown. (Yes, .) The Bond pictures were never without humor, but they got a lot goofier during the Moore era.

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