The Actor
Timothy Peter Dalton was born in Wales to an English father and a mother of Italian and American descent, becoming involved at an early age with both the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art (RADA). Classically trained, Daltons career began on the stage and it was theatre work for which he best known upon his casting as Bond. As a stipulation of his contract, he insisted on playing the character in a manner of his choosing - a dark and highly realistic one, performing most of his own stunts throughout production, something Roger Moore had failed to do during his tenure. Having meticulously studied the source material for the series Ian Flemings books, which he constantly re-read and referenced on set, Dalton came into the role prepared, seeing the role as not just a job and a paycheck, but a chance to put his stamp onto one of the worlds best known characters.