20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About James Bond

20. Christopher Lee Was The Real James Bond

Or at least one of the real James Bonds. Ian Fleming's inspirations for everyone's favourite secret agent are manifold, but a large part of the character was influenced by Fleming's own work as a spy for the Special Operations Executive (a British intelligence network) during World War II. Who else was on the SOE with him? Why, Fleming's cousin and future Bond villain, Christopher Lee, of course. That's right. Not only is he an evil wizard and the prince of darkness, but Lee was also once a secret agent who foiled Nazi schemes. While Lee is understandably tight-lipped about his time with the SOE, it's known that their work for the war effort included destroying a German nuclear weapons development facility in Norway - with just 12 men.