12 The actors who have played Felix Leiter
Description
This article is from the James Bond FAQ, by Michael Reed reed55@core.com with numerous contributions by others.
12 The actors who have played Felix Leiter
Many of the films have featured CIA Agent Felix Leiter, Bond's American
counterpart. While the character remained the same the role was always being
recast. It was not supposed to be that way.
A - Jack Lord in "Dr. No" - The handsome actor, later to star in "Hawaii
Five-O", created the role of Leiter in the first Bond movie. He was supposed
to return in "Goldfinger". But Lord did not want a similar deal. He asked
for a huge salary in line with Connery's and a percentage of the profits.
EON turned down his counteroffer.
B - Cec Linder in "Goldfinger" - The aged actor was supposed to play Mr.
Simmons, the bamboozled car player. But EON asked actor Austin Willis and
Linder to switch roles. Linder got more screen time but was as far from both
Lord's portrayal and Fleming's vision as possible. This ensured that whoever
played Leiter would never again try to make demands for salary and rights.
C - Rik Van Nutter in "Thunderball" - By now, EON played "spot-the-Felix"
with fans. Van Nutter looked liked Fleming's description even if the
screenplay did not do his character justice.
According to the "Thunderball" laserdisc commentary, Rik Van Nutter agreed
to a contract for the recurring role of Leiter, and even moved to London
after "Thunderball" was completed. Alas, there was no part for him in "You
Only Live Twice", or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". By the time Connery
returned in 1971, Van Nutter had moved on. (Submitted by Tom Zielinski
<tomz@hmss.com>)
D - Norman Burton in "Diamonds Are Forever" - Burton played Leiter as a
curmudgeon, making the agent seem less than excited to work with his old
friend once more.
E - David Hedison in "Live And Let Die" and "Licence To Kill" - The only
actor to play Felix twice, though not consecutively, Hedison went sixteen
years between his appearances. While his Leiter and Bond are contemporaries
in his first shot, Hedison is given much more screen time in "Licence To
Kill" as an older man than Bond, given Hedison's age difference with Dalton.
While it is only supposition that it was intentional, note which films
Hedison appeared in. In the book "Live And Let Die" Leiter was fed to a
shark at the hands of a villain, but this did not happen on screen. When
EON decided to film this as the basis of the plot of "Licence To Kill" it
was Hedison who got to do the scene passed over originally.
F - John Terry in "The Living Daylights" - After Hedison's role in 1973,
Leiter went dormant in EON films until 1986, when Terry showed up. He did
not have a large role, but longtime fans felt comfort in once again hearing
from Bond's opposite number.
G - Bernie Casey in "Never Say Never Again" - At least this time it was
truly hard for viewers to "spot-the-Felix" with Casey cast as Leiter. The
black actor and former pro football player portrayed the CIA man as a friend
of Bond's and Casey and Connery expressed it well.
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