One Bond Girl Puts Every Pre-Craig 007 Actor In The Same Canon

In the pre-Daniel Craig era, James Bond had one, true love of his life: Tracy Bond (Diana Rigg). No typical Bond Girl, Tracy appeared in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and she effectively links all of the various James Bond actors together in the same canon. Daniel Craig’s arrival as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale was a total reboot that began an entirely separate continuity, which concludes with the 25th Bond film, No Time To Die. In Craig’s reality, there was no Tracy Bond whom he married (he has his own versions of 007’s pivotal love interest). But for all of the previous James Bonds, Tracy threads through the continuity, and she is the source of 007’s greatest heartbreak.

Contrary to the theory that “James Bond” is a codename given to different men who take on the 007 callsign, the first five actors to play James Bond, from Sean Connery’s debut in 1962’s Dr. No to Pierce Brosnan’s final film, Die Another Day, in 2002, were all playing the same character. The James Bond timeline requires stretching and a necessary suspension of disbelief, but it was always meant to be the same 007 who evolved through the Cold War into the 21st century. Along with Bond’s supporting cast of the male M (Bernard Lee/Robert Fox) and female M (Judi Dench), Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell/Samantha Bond), and Q (Desmond Llewelyn) appearing in every film, Tracy’s memory and her effect on James is referenced multiple times after her first (and only) appearance in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service starring George Lazenby.

Since Lazenby only made one appearance as James Bond, his film often gets overlooked. However, along with being one of the finest Bond movies, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service left a monumental effect on 007’s life and in the saga’s continuity through Tracy Bond. And, even though Craig’s 007 didn’t have Tracy in his life, her shadow also looms over the women Craig’s Bond did love, including Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux).

Why Tracy Bond Is So Important

Simply put, Tracy is the only time in the original 007 continuity that James Bond genuinely fell in love. In fact, it’s also the only time Bond decided to stop being a bachelor and get married. Tracy was born Theresa Draco, the only daughter of Marc-Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), who was the head of the Unione Corse, which was a powerful Corsican crime syndicate. After losing her mother at a young age, Theresa (who preferred to be called Tracy) had a troubled upbringing, and she fell into the international jet set. Rebelling against her father, Tracy married Count Di Vincenzo, who promptly died, leaving her a Countess. But Tracy also had severe emotional problems, and she attempted suicide in Portugal when she was rescued by James Bond.

After Draco learned that the British secret agent had become his daughter’s unwitting guardian angel, the Corsican mafia don summoned 007 and struck a deal: Bond would ‘tame’ Tracy and get her to fall in love with him in exchange for Draco supplying Bond with info on the whereabouts of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the leader of SPECTRE. Despite this unseemly “gentlemen’s agreement,” when Bond “did his duty” and got Tracy to fall for him, he was surprised to learn that he reciprocated her affections. After Bond penetrated Blofeld’s mountaintop fortress in Switzerland and learned of his latest scheme, he was discovered and escaped. Tracy saved James’s life, and he realized his love for her was real so he proposed marriage and she accepted. This also meant James Bond became the son-in-law of a European crime lord.

With the help of Draco and his private army, Bond destroyed Blofeld’s lair, but he was unable to capture the supervillain and his henchwoman, Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat). Still, James and Tracy got married with Draco and Bond’s “family” including M, Q, and Moneypenny in attendance. However, as they drove off for their honeymoon in Bond’s Aston Martin, Blofeld and Bunt took their revenge with a drive-by shooting that killed Tracy. Their promise to each other that “they had all the time in the world” became a cause of heartbreak as James Bond lost the love of his life – and he never let another woman get that close to him again.

How Tracy Bond Connects The First Five James Bond Actors

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the 6th Bond film, but when Sean Connery returned to the role in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, his 007 dealt with the fallout of Tracy’s murder, which established the unbroken continuity from Connery to Lazenby back to Connery. Diamonds Are Forever opens with Bond on a global manhunt for Blofeld (now played by Charles Grey); though Tracy is never mentioned in the film, it’s implied that 007 is seeking vengeance for her death.

Roger Moore then took over as Bond from 1973’s Live And Let Die to 1985’s A View To A Kill, but Tracy was referenced in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. The Soviet agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) listed 007’s resume to him and noted that he was “married only once” – a prickly subject that made Moore’s Bond immediately uncomfortable. Then, in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, Moore’s Bond visited Tracy’s grave before he finally killed Blofeld once and for all and avenged Tracy’s death at last. Tracy was later mentioned in 1989’s Licence to Kill when Timothy Dalton’s Bond attended Felix Leiter’s (David Hedison) wedding. Finally, in 1995’s GoldenEye, Alec Trevelyan AKA 006 (Sean Bean) taunted Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond about “all the women he failed to protect” – Tracy first and foremost since 006 knew all of Bond’s secrets and which buttons to push.

Is Vesper Lynd Daniel Craig’s James Bond’s Tracy?

Tracy Bond never existed in Daniel Craig’s rebooted continuity, but the love of his James Bond’s life was Vesper Lynd, who never appeared in the original 007 movie canon. Introduced in Casino Royale, Vesper was a double agent working for the Quantum terrorist organization who posed as the liaison officer for Her Majesty’s Treasury. Over the course of Casino Royale, Bond and Vesper fell in love, and he even planned to leave MI6 to be with her. Bond was then shattered when he learned she was deceiving him all along, although Vesper cut a deal with Quantum to spare James’ life in exchange for embezzling the money Bond won at Casino Royale‘s high-stakes poker game. After Quantum killed Vesper, Bond denounced her, but he spent the sequel, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, emotionally reconciling Lynd’s death and finally forgiving her when he learned she was being coerced by Quantum all along. Though Vesper and Tracy were very different characters, their effect on James Bond’s life is equally powerful.

Craig’s second major love interest, Madeleine Swann, was introduced in 2015’s Spectre. The daughter of Bond’s nemesis, Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), Madeleine and James fell for each other as 007 tracked down Spectre’s leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), who was revealed to be Bond’s adoptive brother, Franz Oberhauser. After capturing Blofeld, Bond quit MI6 and rode off with Madeleine – an ending that eerily echoed the conclusion of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, leading fans to believe that Madeleine will suffer the same tragic end as Tracy Bond. However, Madeleine appears in No Time To Die, and she harbors dark secrets of her own, which places James Bond in danger once again and breaks his trust with Madeleine.

However, the key difference between Tracy Bond and Vesper Lynd/Madeleine Swann is that Tracy never lied to James about who she was. Tracy was a woman with serious problems, but she didn’t conceal her history, her criminal father, or her romantic intentions from 007. Bond knew exactly who Tracy was, and he never had cause to doubt her, which is why he felt he could be completely open about who he was and decided to marry her. Sadly, every time Daniel Craig’s James Bond risks himself for love, he gets betrayed. But Tracy Bond was true to James until her life was cut short, which cements her legacy as the most important woman in James Bond‘s life and a Bond Girl like no other.

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