20 Things You Didn’t Know About You Only Live Twice (1967)

Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld remains a fan-favourite Bond villain.

Keen on having a distinctive feature to accompany his performance - other than the SPECTRE mastermind’s white Persian cat - the noted character actor experimented with Blofeld having a hump, a limp, a beard, and a lame hand before settling on his distinctive facial scar. However, it was painful for Pleasence to wear as it was literally glued to his face!

Donald Pleasence was, however, a late replacement for producer, Harry Saltzman's first choice as Blofeld, Czech actor, Jan Werich. Even though they tried to work with Werich in the role, Lewis Gilbert and Cubby Broccoli regarded him as a “poor, benevolent Santa Claus” and an unconvincing villain. Officially, Werich departed from the production due to illness, but he was allegedly fired.

Nevertheless, some shots of Werich remain in the finished film, such as when Blofeld is seen from behind in his chair. Pleasence even reported that, when he reshot Werich’s scenes, he was initially acting against nothing as Sean Connery was busy filming other sequences.