All 6 James Bond Actors Ranked

There are no two ways about it; Timothy Dalton was Ian Fleming's James Bond through and through. By far the most accurate to the original novels, Timothy Dalton balanced the cool charm of Connery with the wit of Moore, with just a dash of Craig's vulnerability.

Playing Agent 007 in only two films (neither of which were particularly well-received at the time of release), Dalton didn't have long to prove himself as the best and most accurate Bond, but he certainly did it. Even though his two films (The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill) are considered some of the lesser ones in the series, Dalton's performance makes them worth watching, and many fans have warmed to the films over three decades.

It's a real shame that Dalton didn't get a chance to continue playing Bond, quitting the role during the six-year gap between 1989's Licence To Kill and 1995's Goldeneye.

He was the sort of perfect casting that only comes round once in a blue moon, and the fact that he wasn't popular when he first appeared onscreen (largely due to the fact that audiences had spent the last fourteen years watching Roger Moore's campy escapades, and so Dalton's darker, more book-accurate incarnation was simply not what audiences were used to) makes it even more of a pity.