George Lazenby

George Samuel Lazenby Sr. (born September 5, 1939) is an Australian actor. He was born in Queanbeyan (or Goulburn), New South Wales, Australia, and served in the Australian Army Special forces and as a military unarmed combat instructor. He moved to London in 1964, working as a car salesman and as a model, then as an actor in advertising. By 1968, he was the highest paid model in the world (it is said that in 1967, he made £40,000 directly from modelling, and £60,000 from commercials and product endorsements—equivalent to over a million pounds in 2004). His first serious acting role was as James Bond in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). It was later rumoured that he had been "difficult to work with" in this project. According to Lazenby however, the difficulties were caused by director Peter R. Hunt refusing to talk directly to him—and this in turn was caused by Lazenby (unaware of studio politics or Hunt's sensibilities) simply being too brusque in passing on a request for Hunt's friends to clear a set before filming. Although it performed relatively poorly on release{{Fn|1}}, in part thanks to a poor publicity campaign, the movie is now considered among the best of the series by many, but not all, fans of the Bond movie series; it is one of the best regarded by fans of Ian Fleming's novels. After the movie, Lazenby's agent talked him into refusing a seven-movie contract on the grounds that the Bond character was out of touch with the times. Unsurprisingly, Lazenby describes this as the biggest mistake of his life.

Related Topics:
September 5 - 1939 - Australia - Actor - Queanbeyan - Goulburn - New South Wales - Australian Army - Special forces - Unarmed combat - London - 1964 - James Bond - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 1969 - Peter R. Hunt - Ian Fleming

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In the 1970s he worked in Hong Kong with Bruce Lee, and had a lunch appointment with Lee and Raymond Chow to discuss a major movie project when Lee suddenly died. Despite starring in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), two films that combined grossed more than $100 million worldwide in the 1970s, the standard at that time for an actor to be established as a bona-fide box office hit draw, Lazenby's acting career never really took off. He then focused more on business and real estate investments and ended up owning mansions in Hawaii, Brentwood, California, Australia, and a 600-acre (2.4 km²) ranch estate in Valyermo, California, a small town about 17 miles southeast of Palmdale, California; he also owns a portside penthouse apartment in Hong Kong, and an estate home in Maryland.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong - Bruce Lee - Raymond Chow - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 1969 - The Kentucky Fried Movie - 1977 - Hawaii - Brentwood, California - Australia - Valyermo, California - Palmdale, California - Maryland

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In 2002 he married his second wife, former tennis player Pam Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family, who is related to Maria Shriver, the wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The couple had their first baby on 12 July 2004. He also has a surviving adult daughter from his first marriage, as well as another adult daughter from a relationship before his first marriage.

Related Topics:
2002 - Tennis - Pam Shriver - Maria Shriver - Arnold Schwarzenegger - 12 July - 2004

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These days Lazenby enjoys sailing, motorcycle racing, car racing, reading, watching movies and playing golf and tennis. As a former commando, expert skier, expert martial artist with multiple black belts, accomplished horseman, motorcycle racer, car racer, and by having the ability to act many still consider him the quintessential James Bond, but opinion is very much split on the matter, as some view him as the worst of the five Bonds.

Related Topics:
Motorcycle - Golf - Skier - Horse - Motorcycle racer - James Bond

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