20 Things You Didn't Know About Licence To Kill (1989)
8. "...Strictly As An Observer!"
David Hedison had already portrayed Felix Leiter in Sir Roger Moore’s debut outing as James Bond, Live And Let Die (1973) when he was asked to reprise the role in this film. He has the distinction of being the first actor to portray Leiter more than once and, since then, Jeffrey Wright has played Bond’s CIA buddy in Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), and No Time to Die (2020).
However, Hedison reported that the filmmakers’ decision to cast him as Leiter was no coincidence, as he had briefly met Cubby Broccoli in a restaurant in Los Angeles a few weeks beforehand. Having a recognisable actor portray Bond’s regular CIA liaison added to the tragedy of Leiter's downfall, whilst giving the character a good send-off.
Nevertheless, reality almost mirrored fiction during the filming of the sequence in which Felix Leiter and James Bond parachute into Leiter’s wedding ceremony in Key West.
During one take, the crane controlling the action overhead lowered David Hedison a bit too quickly and the-then 61-year-old actor hit the ground with far much more force than was necessary. Hedison was left walking with a limp for the remainder of the shoot - a nasty precursor to the injuries that would later be inflicted upon Felix Leiter...