10 Actors Who Played James Bond That Only Die-Hard Fans Remember

From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, every James Bond fan knows the 6 men who have played James Bond. But there are actually quite a few people who have played Bond in an official or semi-official capacity beyond the main 6.

With the Bond franchise now 70 years old, it has a rich history of obscure productions ranging from films outside the main series, radio adaptations, and even an amusement park ride. Even the most die-hard of Bond aficionados would be hard-pressed when asked about this obscure group of actors.

David Niven

The wonderful David Niven of Around the World in Eighty Days and The Guns of Navarone was Ian Flemming’s choice to play Bond and even auditioned for the role in Dr. No. Niven’s charm and sense of humor would have made him a terrific alternative to Sean Connery.

But as fate would have it, he would soon get his chance. The rights to adapt Ian Flemming’s first Bond book Casino Royale belonged to Charles Feldman who decided to produce it as a parody. And David Niven was soon cast as the aging Sir James Bond who becomes the new M in the film.

Peter Sellers (and a bunch of other people)

Apparently, one James Bond was not going to be enough for the 1967 parody Casino Royale. In a scheme to confuse his enemies, David Niven’s James Bond decreed that all agents shall be named James Bond. Dozens of characters in the film thus became James Bond including, notably, Ursula Andress and Terrance Cooper.

But the main James Bond for most of the film is clearly comic legend Peter Sellers. It’s Sellers who plays Bond in the one scene that actually adapts part of Casino Royale. Unfortunately, creative differences and a number of behind-the-scenes issues led to Sellers walking out on the film, leaving the filmmakers to resort to creative editing to make the existing footage work.

Barry Nelson

The very first portrayal of James Bond is easily one of the most obscure. American broadcaster CBS acquired the rights to Casino Royale in 1954 and produced a one hour adaptation for its Climax! anthology series.

American Barry Nelson, otherwise known as the man who hires Jack Torrance in The Shining, was cast as an Americanized James Bond. Many other characters were changed too: CIA agent Leiter became British, while Mathis and Vesper were truncated into Valerie Mathis. Le Chiffre, however, remained mostly as is, with Peter Lorre giving a memorable performance.

Toby Stephens

The man who played the villain of Die Another Day found that if you can’t beat Bond, be Bond. A few years after his time as Gustav Graves, Toby Stephens was given the extraordinary opportunity to return to the Bond family as 007 himself for the BBC’s Radio adaptations.

Stephens has portrayed Bond in 9 highly successful adaptations since 2008, covering more than half of Flemming’s novels. He was joined in Goldfinger with Die Another Day castmate Rosemond Pike as Pussy Galore, while Ian McKellan played Goldfinger and Alfred Molina has played Blofeld in various installments.

Bob Simmons

The first time you see Bond in the first James Bond film, it is not Sean Connery. Dr. No began the tradition of the “Gunbarrel Sequence” where Bond turns to the screen and fires to begin the film.

But for that first film, the filmmakers opted to have stunt man Bob Simmons perform the shot, rather than Sean Connery. The Simmons gunbarrel would remain in use through From Russia With Love and Goldfinger before Sean Connery shot his own for Thunderball.

Ross Kananga

The story of Ross Kananga and his involvement in the 1973 Bond film Live and Let Die is one of the fascinating anecdotes of James Bond filmmaking. Kananga was the owner of a crocodile farm whose ‘trespassers will be eaten’ sign got the attention of the film’s location scouts.

It was Kanaga himself who suggested the scene where Bond jumps across a series of crocodiles and the producers actually hired him to perform the stunt himself. Kananga performed the stunt 5 times and required stitches after a croc snapped at his leg. As a further tribute, the film’s villain was named Kanaga.

Christopher Cazenove

A little-known British actor, Christopher Cazenove was known for his work in TV shows like Dynasty and The Regiment and for bit parts in films like Zulu Dawn and A Knight’s Tale. In 1973, a BBC documentary called Omnibus: The British Hero featured Cazenove portraying a variety of characters, in a selection of scenes.

Cazenove portrayed Bond in scenes from Diamonds are Forever and Goldfinger. Unfortunately, there is no surviving video of Cazenove as Bond. However a picture from the “I expect you to die” Goldfinger scene can still be found. The scene notable replaced the 1964 film’s laser with the novel’s buzzsaw.

Bob Holness

Bob Holness was a British-South African game show and radio host. He is best known for hosting the British game show Blockbusters, in addition to Take a Letter, Raise the Roof and Call My Bluff.

One of his first jobs was during his time as a radio host in South Africa in 1958 when he portrayed James Bond in a radio adaptation of Moonraker. This makes Holness the first man to portray a British James Bond. Unfortunately, this recording no longer exists.

Michael Jayston

Over three decades after South Africans adapted Moonraker, the BBC finally made their first radio adaptation of a Bond book. Strangely, they chose to adapt You Only Live Twice, the book sequel to On Her Majesties Secret Service, whose chronology was similarly disrupted in the film series.

Michael Jayston starred as Bond. Jayston was best known for starring in the 1971 historical drama Nicholas and Alexandra and as The Valeyard in Doctor Who: The Trial of A Time Lord. You Only Live Twice would be Jayston’s only performance as James Bond and it would be 18 years before Bond returned to radio.

Unknown – Licence to Thrill

The most obscure James Bond actor of them all is so obscure that no one knows who he is. Late 90’s Theme Park attraction James Bond 007: A Licence to Thrill sought to cash in on the resurgence of Bond’s popularity thanks to the success of the Pierce Brosnan films.

The ride was mainly comprised of a first-person video with an introduction by Judi Dench and Desmond Llewelyn. However, there were moments when the audience would see Bond himself, only it wasn’t Brosnan. While no video survives of the ride, a still image exists that shows off a very generic James Bond wearing sunglasses and riding a motorcycle.

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