Secret agent's art imitated his lifestyle as a spy
After last week's story about secret agent Maxwell Smart of Get Smart fame, we continue with the agent/spy theme for this week's story with a look at a truly great secret agent.
This story is about a secret agent who, in real life, was a director of British Naval Intelligence during World War II. His name was Ian, which people from Great Britain know is a fairly common name for a man.
After retiring from the Navy, Ian became a writer. He was very successful, as his books have sold more than thirty million copies. Despite Ian's success, the literary industry looked down on his books.
Ian's grandfather founded the Scottish American Investment Trust in his native Scotland in 1873, when he was just twenty-eight years old. He also helped finance America's reconstruction after the Civil War. His business went on to become a huge success, and it is still doing well today as an investment and merchant bank.
Ian's father, whose first name was Valentine, was a member of British parliament and a friend of Winston Churchill's. He served in World War I but was killed in combat. Churchill wrote an obituary for Ian's father, which Ian kept with him for the rest of his life.
Ian was born in London, England, in 1908 and had three brothers. Like his father, he served in World War II. After the war Ian moved to the northern coast of Jamaica and built his home, which he named "Goldeneye." This is where he began writing the stories about his famous alter ego.
Not to change the subject, but have you ever wondered why certain movies feature new inventions and gadgets that seemed like they were created just for the movie? The 1968 children's film, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the James Bond movies are two perfect examples. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang featured a popular inventor played by Dick Van Dyke, while the Bond movies featured the coolest high-tech gadgets that were years ahead of their time.
Coincidence?
Not really, because both of these shows were created by the same person. His name?
Fleming. Ian Fleming.
I mentioned earlier that Ian was a spy for the British Naval Intelligence during World War II. As is the case with James Bond, it's easy for life to imitate art when the person creating the art is writing about his own life.
While his greatest "invention" was James Bond, Ian never invented any gadgets in real life. He commanded Desmond Llewelyn's character, Q, to equip Bond with all the coolest gadgets that any self-respecting spy could ever want, such as the ejector seat in his Aston Martin car, the specially-equipped briefcase, the ski pole gun, the acid pen and the Omega watch with a laser.
There are some interesting facts about Ian Fleming's James Bond . . . trivia that any loyal Bond fan already knows:
- Ian Fleming named the James Bond character after the author of Birds of the West Indies. He wanted a dull, plain name for the character.
- Fleming attended Eton, which is the same school that Prince Harry attended.
- Two of the Bond actors, Sean Connery and Roger Moore, have been knighted.
- Cary Grant was one of the actors that Sean Connery beat out for the role of Bond.
- As a boy, Sean Connery delivered milk to the school that the real-life James Bond attended—Fettes School—which is the same school that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair attended.
- Sean Connery's son, Jason, portrayed Ian Fleming in the film Spymaker.
- There were five different actors who played James Bond during the first nineteen official Bond movies, but there was only one actor who played Q during that time: Desmond Llewelyn. His Q character was also known as Major Boothroyd.
For more stories, become a fan of Paul on Facebook. Paul can be reached at niemann7@aol.com
© Paul Niemann 2011