Robert Rietty: voice of Largo, Tanaka and Draco, casino official in OHMSS, South American doctor in DAF and Italian Minister in NSNA
And the voice of 'Blofeld' in For Your Eyes Only, of course.
Oh yeah. Sorry, missed that one. Thanks Royal Dalton.
You messed up on one: The South American doctor was played by David de Keyser, the real voice of Draco.
Also, I think Rietty dubs Superintendent Duff in Dr. No, as well; it certainly sounds like him.
Oh, yeah, sorry. I think you're right there, Mr Blofeld!
I think so, too; the voice sounded strangely familiar to me, especially when he made the pronouncement that the driver "surely wasn't a Kingston man!", and now I know why...
In You Only Live Twice, Charles Gray plays Bond's ally, Henderson. Four years later, he returns. As Blofeld. I mean, seriously. Did they think we'd forget him? I sure didn't. I know there are other actors who have played numerous roles over the years in Bond flicks, but this is the first one I noticed. It just left me a bit confused. Either way, he's quite good in both movies.
Robert Brown was Admiral Hargreaves in TSWLM, M in later films.
I somehow always imagined they were supposed to be the same character, that he got promoted to M later on or something. Nothing backs up this theory, off course, but it works in my head.
In TSWLM, Hargreaves is a Vice-Admiral, but in TLD, M is shown to be a Rear-Admiral, so they must be different characters (why would more importance get him a demotion? also, to jump from Flag Officer, Submarines to Head of Her Majesty's Secret Service is a pretty crazy jump)
Charles Gray also provided the second part of the son et lumiere narration for the Pyramids show in The Spy Who Loved Me. It was uncredited voice over work.
Bumping this from the past...
I've read this right now from Some Kind of Hero. I understand the Son et Lumiere show was voiced (and is?) by Omar Shariff.
If we include the '67 Casino Royale, Angela Scoular played Buttercup and later played Ruby in EON's OHMSS. And, of course, Ursula Andress played Vesper.
And Vladek Sheybal (Le Chiffre's blackmail auctioneer) was Kronsteen in FRWL.
And Tsai Chin, who played Ling during the PTS of YOLT, reappears as Madame Wu, a guest of Le Chiffre on his boat, in Casino Royale (2006) and her husband loses at cards.
As for Mr. Gray's performance in DAF, it was SUPPOSED to be camp -- he went in drag, after all. His exhibited behavior was inspired by that of Howard Hughes, who was not trying to be funny, but whose behavior by then was perceived widely as that of a reclusive man gone mad. Not that Blofeld was trying to look like a recluse gone mad, but he wanted people -- his employees who never got to see him -- to regard him as an eccentric, reclusive boss.
His performance was closer to his portrayal of The Narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and intentionally so. DAF, after all, was a deliberately over-the-top romp. Connery was back. it was all a lark. It was meant to be fun, and the results achieved that.
By the way, in the interests of thoroughness, with the same actor portraying different characters throughout the films, a certain Michael Wilson has played quite the variety...
Location:Lost. Last seen Brass Rubbing in Brittany
Posted 28 January 2016 - 03:45 PM
And Tsai Chin, who played Ling during the PTS of YOLT, reappears as Madame Wu, a guest of Le Chiffre on his boat, in Casino Royale (2006) and her husband loses at cards.
Staying with Casino Royale. During the card game where Bond wins the Aston Martin from Dimitrios, look out for the older (60s-ish) lady at the table with the red/brown hair.
This is the same actress with whom Connery dances at the Kiss Kiss club in Thunderball, before Fiona Volpe cuts in.
And Tsai Chin, who played Ling during the PTS of YOLT, reappears as Madame Wu, a guest of Le Chiffre on his boat, in Casino Royale (2006) and her husband loses at cards.
Staying with Casino Royale. During the card game where Bond wins the Aston Martin from Dimitrios, look out for the older (60s-ish) lady at the table with the red/brown hair.
This is the same actress with whom Connery dances at the Kiss Kiss club in Thunderball, before Fiona Volpe cuts in.
Yup, that's Diane Hartford. Her ex-husband Huntington Hartford owned Paradise Island and founded the Ocean Club as well as the Cafe Martinique (where TB and CR06 were shot)
Charles Gray also provided the second part of the son et lumiere narration for the Pyramids show in The Spy Who Loved Me. It was uncredited voice over work.
Bumping this from the past...
I've read this right now from Some Kind of Hero. I understand the Son et Lumiere show was voiced (and is?) by Omar Shariff.
I always distrust these claims - there's no shortage of Bond-related apocrypha. For those of you not familiar with that word, it means "Something widely circulated as being true but which has no basis in fact."** The book's authors conveniently do not cite the source of this claim. Always a bad sign.
The first part of the voiceover sounds not too much like Sharif - in fact, not at all like him, listen to the accent. At least Gray is in the right ballpark and has a much closer accent. The tail end sounds suspiciously like Gray, especially "and I am he, the Pharaoh."
On one hand, why would the producer (or post-production supervisor) use Gray for routine voiceover work? OTOH, this isn't routine voiceover work and I can understand why the producer et al may prefer using a prestige voice. Clearly whoever spoke these lines was a trained stage actor. And Gray clearly had no problem doing voiceover work for actor Jack Hawkins. As you may recall, Hawkins lost the use of his voice and so Gray dubbed several films for him.
Common sense strongly suggests that the same person did the entire voiceover. Why only use Gray's voice for the second part? In fact, the more I listen to the entire monologue the more convinced I become that it's the same speaker.
I think some of our resident Brits blessed with a sharp ear for regional accents should weigh in on this.
This reminds me of the "who dubbed Blofeld's voice in Thunderball: Joseph Wiseman or Eric Pohlmann?" discussion. (Pohlmann, of course.)
**Here's a more accurate definition: "Apocrypha are works, usually written works, that are of unknown authorship, or of doubtful authenticity, or spurious, or not considered to be within a particular canon. The word is properly treated as a plural, but in common usage is often singular."
Apparently, "Pyramids were later replicated in model form" (SKOH, p. 293). Perhaps, first part was a "live voice" in Egypt, and then they need another one....
Apparently, "Pyramids were later replicated in model form" (SKOH, p. 293). Perhaps, first part was a "live voice" in Egypt, and then they need another one....
I'm not sure who did the voice, but when I was in Egypt in 2002 I attended a night time light show on Giza, and imagine my surprise when that same voice recording played over the show. It started with the same dialogue from the film and ran a really long time, so if it was one of the Bond film actors they did it for real as opposed to just the minute or two we get in TSWLM. The music was different and there was a lot of laser lights used. But I was shocked and pleased that it was really there.
Apparently, "Pyramids were later replicated in model form" (SKOH, p. 293). Perhaps, first part was a "live voice" in Egypt, and then they need another one....
I'm not sure who did the voice, but when I was in Egypt in 2002 I attended a night time light show on Giza, and imagine my surprise when that same voice recording played over the show. It started with the same dialogue from the film and ran a really long time, so if it was one of the Bond film actors they did it for real as opposed to just the minute or two we get in TSWLM. The music was different and there was a lot of laser lights used. But I was shocked and pleased that it was really there.
This is the light show's own standard narration and has been for many years. The entire monologue (is that the right word?) appears in the 1961 book "The nocturnal magic of the pyramids" [United Arab Republic. Wizārat al-Thaqāfah wa-al-Irshād al-Qawmī, Gaston Papeloux, Gaston Bonheur] I had suspected that the writing was too florid to be either Christopher Wood or Richard Maibaum.
So the Bond filmmakers swiped it from the show - and not the other way around.
Sounds like Sharif to me.
Not to me. I just listened to an interview where Sharif's prononciation of world ("wierld") sounds nothing like the light show speaker ("wuld").
However your clip and the film itself initially use the same speaker. Somebody else speaks the words "and I am he, the Pharaoh" in the film.
Several books claim that the voice at the real life light-show in Giza is indeed Sharif's. e.g. page 16, "Travel Letters from an American Living in the Middle East-Bahrain: And Other Travel Tales" by J. M. Sperandio (2010).
UPDATE: But if it were, you'd think the company's own website would drag Sharif's name in every chance. Further, I've read several articles where Sharif talks about the pyramids, but he says nothing about the light show. And I still maintain that whoever speaks these lines has an English accent/inflection of some kind. Clearly an Egyptian educated in the UK throughout his teens.
Thanks. I'm updating my previous post as I learn more.
Wikipedia claims "In his youth, Sharif studied at Victoria College, Cairo, where he showed a talent for languages. He later graduated from Cairo University with a degree in mathematics and physics. He then worked for a while in his father's precious wood business before studying acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art [RADA] in London."
Other sources claim that Sharif only applied to attend RADA.
If we're onto two voices, I'm inclined to believe Sharif in Egypt (as a live one, and perhaps not to be credited for that reason) and Gray in London...
