The name's Bond...James Bond. As we celebrate 100 Years of United Artists, TCM takes a special look at the history of the Bond movies that have played such an important role in UA's history. Our 007 retrospective ranges from the 1960s through the 1990s and includes an amazing 13 TCM premieres!

Novelist and short-story writer Ian Fleming created the James Bond character, who first appeared in 1953, and would feature his fictional hero in 12 novels and two collections of short stories. After Fleming's death in 1964, other authors have been authorized to continue the character's adventures. The most recent was Anthony Horowitz, who published the Bond novel Forever and a Day in 2018.

The character James Bond is a Secret Intelligence Service agent, also known by the code number 007, who lives in London but is regularly involved in international espionage adventures. The English-born Fleming reportedly based Bond on several commandos and secret agents he had known during his own service in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II. Another influence on the composite character was Fleming's older brother, Peter, who was a soldier/adventurer in Norway and Greece during the war.

Some say the character's name came from the American ornithologist James Bond; others say from the Welsh agent James C. Bond, with whom Fleming had served. The character as portrayed on the page and screen is suave, beautifully groomed, fearless and unflappable, with well-cultivated tastes in automobiles, weapons, gadgets, food, alcohol ("shaken, not stirred" martinis), smoking (until more recent times) and sex.

To date there have been 24 Bond movies created through Eon Productions (short for "Everything or Nothing"), the British film company that primarily produces 007 adventures. There were also two independent productions built around the Bond character: the 1967 spoof Casino Royale and the 1983 Sean Connery vehicle Never Say Never Again, which marked the iconic actor's return to the Bond role for the first time in 12 years.

At this writing, a new adventure starring Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as 007 is being filmed in England, Italy and other locations by Eon under the title No Time to Die . It is scheduled for release in 2020. The character also has been on television, radio, comic strips and video games. The movies constitute the longest continually-running film series ever and, with grosses of more than $7 billion, one of the most profitable.

Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the Eon movies until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. In 1984, Broccoli was joined by Michael G. Wilson, his stepson, as producer. In 1995, Broccoli stepped aside and was replaced by his daughter Barbara, who has since co-produced with Wilson.

The Bond series has seen great continuity in casts and production crews, with repeated contributions by directors, writers, production designers and composers. In addition to their gadgetry, the movies are noted for their memorable musical scores, with theme songs that have received several Oscar nominations and two wins. They are also well-remembered for the lineup of beautiful actresses who have played 007's love interests, often referred to as the "Bond girls."

The first theatrical film to feature Bond was Dr. No (1962), starring Sean Connery as 007 with direction by Terence Young. Many Bond fans had imagined Cary Grant or David Niven as their hero, and there was some consternation when Sean Connery, a strapping Scottish actor in his early 30s, was chosen instead.

Ian Fleming was initially unhappy with the choice of this athletic, unrefined, 6'2" Scotsman to play his sophisticated character, reportedly calling him "an overgrown stuntman." But Fleming came around after director Young coached Connery in the ways of a suave man-about-town and the casting proved spectacularly successful with audiences. Connery was immediately catapulted from leading man to superstar status.

Since Connery's portrayal was so definitive, many think of him as the first screen Bond. That honor, however, goes to Barry Nelson, who played Bond in an adaptation of Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, for American television in 1954.

Connery would play 007 in five more Eon productions (but he played Bond a total of seven times): From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). In addition to Young, his directors were Guy Hamilton and Lewis Gilbert.

The stunning lineup of TCM premieres is shown below, categorized by the actors who succeeded Connery in the role of James Bond.

George Lazenby played 007 in only one film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), directed by Peter R. Hunt. The Australian actor was said to have declined further Bond films on the questionable advice of his agent. Although not well-reviewed at the time, Lazenby's characterization would later draw praise for the touches of vulnerability that brought his Bond closer to the hero of the novels than Connery had been.

Roger Moore tied with Connery in having the longest run with the character, playing Bond in seven movies: Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), directed by Guy Hamilton; The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979), directed by Lewis Gilbert; and For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to a Kill (1985), directed by John Glen.

Moore, a veteran of Bond-like characters on TV including "The Saint," brought a lighter touch to the character. He played Bond with a jokey, mocking humor that made the violence inherent in the films seem like a joke. Moore was quoted as saying that the Bond situations were "outrageous. So you have to treat the humor outrageously as well."

Timothy Dalton was Bond in a pair of films: The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), both directed by Glen. Dalton, who studied the Fleming novels to guide his interpretation, was a more serious, vulnerable and morally ambiguous Bond. Roger Moore considered his successor to be "the best actor" to have played the role.

Pierce Brosnan did Bond duty in four films, and we've got three of them: GoldenEye (1995), directed by Martin Campbell; Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), directed by Roger Spottiswoode; and The World Is Not Enough (1999), directed by Michael Apted.

Brosnan, who had perfected his image as a cool operator in his TV role as private investigator Remington Steele, recaptured some of Connery's athletic roguishness in the role while blending in Moore's lighthearted touch. Critic Andrew Spicer wrote that Brosnan's "lithe, sinuous athleticism is well suited to the fast-paced action and state-of-the-art gadgetry that retains the series' core appeal."

The current Bond, Daniel Craig, began his run in 2006 and, with the release of No Time to Die , will have appeared in five Bond films. Craig faced opposition by fans and commentators who found his blond, blue-eyed, 5'10" image unsuitable for Bond. In criticizing Craig's casting, The Daily Mirror ran the headline "The Name's Bland...James Bland."

But Craig vindicated himself with a characterization that some felt has come closest to capturing the Bond that Fleming created. The BBC's Paul Arendt described Craig's 007 as "a professional killing machine, a charming, cold-hearted patriot with a taste for luxury." Director Steven Spielberg called Craig "the perfect 21st-century Bond."

by Roger Fristoe