23 October 2012
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Ian Fleming's image of James Bond
Everyone has heard of Ian Fleming, author and creator of the most well-known spy in films history. Few people, though, know that Fleming was quite a character himself, and that his James Bond creation was based on Fleming’s own life as a Naval Intelligence Officer. To commemorate 50 years of the James Bond film franchise, from Dr. No with Sean Connery in 1962 to Skyfall with Daniel Craig in 2012, here are 007 facts about James Bond creator Ian Fleming. ...
Everyone has heard of Ian Fleming, author and creator of the most well-known spy in films history. Few people, though, know that Fleming was quite a character himself, and that his James Bond creation was based on Fleming’s own life as a Naval Intelligence Officer.
To commemorate 50 years of the James Bond film franchise, from Dr. No with Sean Connery in 1962 to Skyfall with Daniel Craig in 2012, here are 007 facts about James Bond creator Ian Fleming...
001 After a spell at Eton College, Fleming entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He left after less than a year, in 1927, without gaining a commission.
002 Fleming’s codename in British Naval Intelligence was 17F, not quite as catchy as Bond’s 007 who, as well as being a spy, was also a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve.
003 It is widely believed that the idea behind Operation Mincemeat (the successful British deception plan to disguise the intended invasion of Italy from North Africa during World War II) originated from a memo written by Fleming. Fleming himself reportedly got the idea from a 1930s detective novel by Basil Thomson.
004 In 1941, Fleming assisted in writing a blueprint for the US Office of the Coordinator of Information, the department that eventually became the CIA.
005 In 1942, Fleming was put in charge of Operation Golden Eye, a plan to maintain an intelligence framework in Spain in the event of a German takeover of the territory.
006 Fleming’s publisher was initially unenthusiastic about his first spy novel, Casino Royale, but his brother persuaded them to publish it. Four print runs were needed to meet demand.
007 Fleming based the character of Bond on a number of people he met during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division, and admitted Bond ‘was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war’.
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