20 Things You Didn’t Know About On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

19. “This Never Happened To The Other Fella!”

George Lazenby Bond OHMSS
United Artists

Despite Sean Connery’s resignation as James Bond, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli resolved that the franchise would continue.

Roger Moore was unavailable for Saltzman’s hoped-for adaptation of The Man with the Golden Gun as he was busy filming The Saint (1962-1969). Largely unknown actors were then considered, including Anthony Rogers, Robert Campbell, Hans De Vries (who was a control room technician in You Only Live Twice), John Richardson [who appeared alongside Ursula Andress in She (1965)], and George Lazenby.

Lazenby purchased one of Connery’s suits from Savile Row and visited Cubby’s barbers in Mayfair to get noticed. Director, Peter R. Hunt cast the Australian model as James Bond when he broke Russian wrestler, Yuri Borienko’s nose during a screen test (Borienko was then cast as Blofeld’s head of security, Grunther).

Richard Maibaum wrote a plastic surgery scene to explain Bond's new appearance, but the idea was considered ridiculous. Instead, the issue was confronted head-on when Lazenby remarked “This never happened to the other fella” in the pre-credits sequence. As Maibaum explained: “It said, ‘Look, you know it’s not the same James Bond, so we’re not going to kid you or do anything corny to excuse it’”.

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