August 24, 2012

  •           GAVIN        John Gavin was James Bond

    After On Her Majesty's Secret Service finished production, Sean Connery's replacement for the role of 007 George Lazenby, decided not to do another Bond movie. This, once again left the role open.

    In 1971, the 6' 4" ex-Universal contract actor John Gavin was signed to be the next James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever.

    Gavin is best known today as Janet Leigh's boyfriend in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and as Julius Caesar in the Kirk Douglas production of Spartacus.

    The 007 producers gave Gavin $50,000 in advance and he signed the contract to be the 3rd James Bond. Gavin didn't just come close to the part, for a while, he was James Bond.

    However, when Sean Connery was lured back to play Bond by offering him 1.25 million dollars (astronomical for the times), the producers told Gavin to keep his advance and he stepped aside. He went on to be the President of the Screen Actors Guild from 1971 to 1973 and play more roles in films and TV.

    In 1981, President Ronald Eagan appointed Gavin as Ambassador to Mexico, serving for five years. Gavin's mother was of Mexican descent and his father was descended from a high ranking family in Spain, so John Gavin grew up completely bilingual in English and Spanish.

    When asked if he regretted losing out on the role of 007, Gavin said, "No, because it might have prevented me from fulfilling my real childhood dream, to be U.S. Ambassador to Mexico."

    This all proves that if we persevere though disappointments and life changes, we can ultimately achieve the larger dream that is inside us.

    And speaking of our 'ultimate dream', that's what the James Bond Lifestyle is all about.

    You can read the first 30 pages at Amazon Kindle.

    342 pages of techniques. Updated and expanded for 2012. http://amzn.to/JYG7y1

     

Comments (2)

  • Just discovered your blog. It reminds me of an interesting old gentleman that I met 20 years ago at a coffeeshop in Costa Rica. His name was Frank, and he had retired from the movie industry and settled in Heredia. 

    I had heard that Errol Flynn did his own stunts, but Frank told me that Sebastian Cabot was Flynn's stunt man. He talked about what a womanizer one of the two was (I don't remember which).

    I wish I had asked for Frank's phone number and arranged to meet him for coffee again. He was an interesting guy.

  • @Roadkill_Spatula - I'm a big Errol Flynn fan. You should see the end fight in the movie 'The Adventures of Don Jaun'. One of the best sword fights ever (others would be in 'The Mark of Zorro' Tyrone Power vs Basil Rathbone, and 'The Great Race' Tony Curtis vs Ross Martin.

    It might of been both of them, but Errol Flynn according to his autobiography dated many women. Thanks for your comment.

    Paul

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment