In 1968, Lazenby was cast as "James Bond", despite his only previous acting experience being in commercials, and his only film appearance being a bit-part in a 1965 Italian-made Bond spoof. He rang me up out of the blue and said, 'Now that was a damn lousy show, but one thought that you were ger-reat.' There's an actual story here, one of the greatest casting stories ever told. Explore; . It's true that it got me in, but it wasn't worth the ten years it cost me. His wife is Pam Shriver (m. 2002-2011), Christina Gannett (m. 1971-1995) I was terrified.'. Say what you will about his performance in the movie, he's very convincing in the action scenes more than the older, suaver, Britisher Moore ever was, certainly. At my thinnest point from the disease (I was 97 pounds and 5'8'') my Dad asked me if I was worried that "my legs might break and go up my ass" or sing "Here she comes, Miss Ethiopia" to the Miss America tune when I would walk past him. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number, I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard. "Harry Saltzman had always said, 'If you don't do another Bond you'll wind up doing spaghetti westerns in Italy. 1995) . Full Name: George Robert Lazenby Date of Birth: 5th September 1939 Place of Birth: Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Christina Gannett and George Lazenby were married for 22 years. [42] He spent the next 15 months sailing around the world with Chrissie Townson which ended when she became pregnant with their first child, prompting Lazenby to settle down and try to re-activate his career as an actor. - an eerie Italian thriller about a bereaved father (Lazenby) who discovers a conspiracy behind the facts surrounding his daughter's death - had its moments. She couldn't drive the car properly and I got in to her about her drinking and things like that. Lazenby later appeared in roles that parodied the James Bond character. The latter was seen by Harry Saltzman who offered Lazenby a leading role in a proposed science fiction film The Micronauts. He had the masculinity. That is what whores do - what men tell them to do for a quick buck. However this collapsed after Lee's sudden death Lazenby was actually meant to meet Lee for lunch on the day Lee died. His lead role in the prime time soap opera, He was Golden Harvest studios original replacement for. (On the Bond producers) They made me feel like I was mindless. Samuel Robert Lazenby , Zachary Lazenby . Christina Gannett Other - Heir Why Famous: Gannet Publishing Heiress and former Pirelli Model Age: 71 (b. 2023 Turner Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ', Shriver and Lazenby have three young children. Lazenby's later screen appearance came at the turn of the 21st century when he appeared on several episodes of "The Pretender" (NBC, 1996-2000) and voiced The King, head of the Royal Flush gang, on the animated "Batman Beyond" (The WB, 1999-2001). George Robert Lazenby /leznbi/ (born 5 September 1939) is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he was 29. . "People ask me if the Bond movie wasn't worth it if it got me into acting. Lazenby and Shriver faced each other in court for the first time on Monday, when a judge refused their appeal to seal the case file and keep further damaging revelations out of the public eye. There is a great deal of difference between an actor and a film star. If you miss those bloody Chinese buggers they'll belt you for good. Bond. She claims: 'One time, he went into the bathroom and saw that my toilet was not flushed and he pulled me out of a chair in the living room, dragged me into the bathroom, lifted the toilet seat up, and pushed my face inside of the toilet bowl into my own urine - to teach me a lesson about flushing toilets.'. Newly married to newspaper heiress Christina Gannett in 1971, and the father of two young children, son Zachary and daughter Melanie, Lazenby did what so many other actors had done before him - he waded into the waters of international moviemaking, where his name and status as a former Bond lent star power to many a low-budget genre film . The Australian model-turned-actor, who succeeded Sean Connery. Cancel. 12 July 2004) with Pam Shriver Twins: Samuel Robert and Kaitlin Elizabeth (b. He also made frequent tongue-in-cheek appearances as Bond or a Bond-like secret agent in TV movies and commercials. Lazenby said he was 'sorry that he ignored Melanie from the time she was 12 years old', but claimed he was busy attending to his son Zack's needs - 'because he was dying from his brain tumors'. The latter would be the one where Bond goes undercover as a circus clown. He previously owned a house in Pacific Palisades. [asked about his martial arts proficiency] Well, if you call brawling in Australian country pubs martial arts. It's not for nothing that they didn't offer him any sequels." But remember, it was my first film Now what I've got to do is live down my past; convince people I'm not the same person who made a fool of himself all those years ago. She denies Lazenby's claims she takes a 'nightly cocktail' of prescription painkillers and sleeping pills with alcohol. He moved to London, England in 1964, after serving in the Australian Army. (2016), Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation [61], In 2002 Lazenby married former tennis player Pam Shriver. Goulburn, Australia. [49], A few years later he told an Australian magazine, "I got a few roles but nothing spectacular, yet I was ready, willing and able to work. The span between his first 007, Live and Let Die, and his last, A View to a Kill, was 12 years, during which he played the famous spy in seven movies. Melanie is one of Manhattan's top real estate agents, and in May 2013 was the broker for the sale of a unique, block-long, $10 million condominium apartment to, He was the youngest actor to play James Bond, being 30 when, Son: George Samuel Lazenby (b. I'm terribly impressed with Dennis Hopper. She says on one occasion when she was about 18, Lazenby pushed her head down a toilet into her own urine. (In 1978) I thought I was as important as any sheik. Lazenby's interest in acting waned during the early 1990s. But they're not just riffing. It was tough carrying the role after Sean Connery because he was good. Nobody believed me. (1977), Cover Girls So, when she got in the car, I went for her. It was the end of the sixties, and Bond a free-loving but otherwise totally square "blunt instrument" in the service of the waning British Empire would soon look dated or worse, Lazenby and his advisers concluded. He'd never acted in a play. [43] They subsequently had two children, Zachary and Melanie. Most of his efforts were forgettable, though 1972's "Who Saw Her Die?" [62] Their divorce was finalized in May 2011. Matters became worse when Lazenby's manager, Rohan O'Rahilly - later the founder of England's legendary pirate radio station Radio Caroline - persuaded him to reject a seven-picture contract and walk away from the role due to its irrelevance in the face of the growing 1960s youth culture. | I called her a so-and-so for not considering the crew who were freezing their butts off outside. 10% off with JoJo Maman Bebe newsletter signup, At least 10% off in the outlet - LEGO discount, Extra 20% off on free Click & Collect orders at Claire's, 15% off your order over 29 - Baker Ross discount code, Up to 15% off Sony Playstation gift cards, Former Met acting commissioner described rape as regretful sex, Detectives hunting for Constance Martens baby find remains of infant, London Ambulance Service told to improve its ethnic diversity, Third of London pupils miss first pick of school, Shocking moment moped narrowly misses 70mph train at level crossing, Armed police swoop on Hackney Central station after man knifed, What is the Willow Project? [9][10] He became a used-car salesman in Finchley, and subsequently sold new cars in Park Lane, where he was spotted by a talent scout who persuaded him to become a model. Lazenby claims Shriver sought out his ex-wife and daughter during the French Open in May this year while she was 'secretly' preparing for a divorce. Nobody believed me. Some felt that, while he was physically convincing, some of his costumes were inappropriate "too loud" according to some and that he delivered his lines poorly.[27]. Living on his 600 acre ranch in Valyermo, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County, California, USA with his wife, ESPN Sports tennis analyst and former internationally top-ranked pro-tennis player, Splitting his time between his homes in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA; in Australia; on his 600 acre ranch in Valyermo, unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, USA; while also traveling with his wife, ESPN's. Lazenby has portrayed James Bond several times over the years in numerous parodies and unofficial 007 roles, notably the 1983 television film The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. She claims a drunk Lazenby called her 'a lying bitch' in a Canberra restaurant after she had declined to go with him to a hardware store earlier in the day. And he jumped up and swung at me and I broke his jaw. You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. With the death of actor Sean Connery, October 31st 2020, Lazenby is now the earliest and oldest living actor who has portrayed James Bond. In a statement released by his spokesman Michael Sands he said: 'I wish Christina would show me a medical report, x-rays and pictures that show I broke her nose. But the word was out I was 'difficult'. And then I kinda got on the bandwagon and sort of said, 'I must be who they say I am' and demanded limousines and the whole bit. I think it's a pretty foolish move. I will never play him again. I didn't like Quantum of Solace. "[22], "I draw a veil over the chap," said Desmond Llewelyn (who played Q in 17 Bond films). Of course, the bigger issue was that Lazenby had announced before the movie even opened that he would not reprise the role the same move Connery had pulled two years earlier. The allegations are revealed in court papers filed last Friday as part of Lazenby's bitter custody fight with Shriver over their children Georgie, four, and two-year-old twins Sammy and Katie. [45], Instead it was announced Lazenby would make The Golden Needles of Ecstasy for Golden Harvest. I've already put him behind me. (2000), Star of Jaipur I said, I didn't think I be gin to do that. Lazenby was particularly keen to do The Thorn Birds,[50] but that project was not made until a number of years later and without Lazenby. 'Melanie is always seeking revenge for that mistake,' he said. According to our records, Christina Gannett is possibly single. Throughout this busy period, Lazenby also continued to play up his pedigree as a former Bond; he was the Aston Martin-driving "JB" in "The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E." Lerche wrote the song after receiving a VHS of the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service as a child, after sending away for a free copy of the movie only to find he had joined a James Bond film club. Years later, watching the movie again on DVD (with Lazenby's interviews), he found it to be "a perfect metaphor for life's disappointments". Well, I think Australians are there is a shortage of women put it that way. I think everyone gets upset at one time. That was after Bond, I think I had done three Kung Fu movies so I was pretty accurate, you know. [56] Actor Paul McGann has described himself with good humour as "the George Lazenby of Doctor Who"[57] because, although he has continued in the role of the Eighth Doctor in other media, he made only two appearances on television as the eponymous Time Lord. [59], In 2010, Roger Moore, who also played James Bond, provided the voice of a talking cat character named Tab Lazenby in the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which contained several references to, and parodies of, Bond films. I will never play him again. Born George Robert Lazenby in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia on Sept. 5, 1939, he served in the Australian Armed Special Forces and worked at several jobs in his native country - car salesman and ski instructor, among others - before departing for London in 1964. 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. Was tough carrying the role after Sean Connery because he was Golden Harvest Bond... She was about 18, Lazenby pushed her head down a toilet into her own urine 'll. Crew who were freezing Their butts off outside think I had done three Fu. 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