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When most people think of the meanest, deadliest James Bond, it is likely that Sean Connery or Daniel Craig will come to mind. But as the famous film franchise turns 50 today, it is actually softly-spoken Pierce Brosnan who has totted up the highest number of kills out of the six actors to take on the iconic role.
Roger Moore and Sean Connery closely follow with 51 kills each, with Craig trailing in fourth place with 25, despite his movies generally being described as grittier and more violent.
As well as proving the most lethal, Brosnan helped bring the Bond series its then highest-ever box office takings in 1995 when he starred in 'GoldenEye'. His next two Bond films, 'Tomorrow Never Dies' in 1997 and 'The World Is Not Enough' in 1999, unfortunately didn't match the success of the first.
But Brosnan's fourth and final film 'Die Another Day' again broke a box office record in 2002 taking $431,971,116.
That record was then smashed to smithereens when Daniel Craig took up the mantle in 2006 for 'Casino Royale', which made $594,239,066 at the Box Office. Incredibly, Craig has only ever uttered the famous phrase: 'Bond. James Bond', once in all of his current films - which include 'Quantum of Solace'.
Unsurprisingly, Roger Moore has said it far more than any other Bond - ten times over the course of his seven movies.
The most lethal Bond: Pierce Brosnan, pictured with Halle Berry in the 2002 film 'Die Another Day', killed 76 people during his four films. He also holds the record for the highest number of kisses with 20 onscreen clinches, closely followed by Connery with 18, and then Brosnan with 12.
Craig and Timothy Dalton both shared a measly four kisses with their various Bond girls while George Lazenby managed three in one and only Bond film - 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'.
The statistics correlated today for the 50th anniversary of the Bond films come just a few weeks before the latest installment 'Skyfall' is set to hit big screens.
But while the movie is sure to be another success for the long-running franchise, a documentary released today shows it has had its ups and downs. 'Everything or Nothing', the documentary directed by Stevan Riley that charts Bond’s passage through studio collapses, personality clashes and the end of the Cold War which could have spelled disaster for the series. Instead it has adapted to the modern era with a female spymaster M, played by Judi Dench, and a tough and serious 007 in the form of Craig.
That constant reinvention has been one of the franchise’s greatest strengths, with six actors playing the role in the official Bond movies. Asked what he thought was the key to Bond’s survival, producer Michael G. Wilson, the stepson of Broccoli who now co-produces the films, said it was down to the source material - Ian Fleming’s novels.
He said: 'It comes first of all from Fleming writing a character that has many aspects, so that when we turned them into film, different actors could take on different aspects of the character.
'And it’s really been our great fan base we’ve kept faith with over the years and they’ve kept coming back. It’s really the public that makes it more than anything else.'
Over the last five decades, EON Productions, formed by the central partnership of Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, has made 22 Bond movies which have amassed around $5 billion at the global box office.
In 1958 Ian Fleming wrote the sixth book in his series of James Bond novels - It was called Dr No.
It was published on March 31 of that year, and four years later it spawned the franchise that is still going strong today.
For the big screen version, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young.
The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, a partnership that would continue until 1975.
Perhaps the most memorable scene was Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in her white bikini in her role as Honey Ryder- spawning a poster that still adorns the rooms of students today.
A further legacy saw the sales of Fleming’s books rise sharply after the release of 'Dr. No' and the subsequent Bond films. In the seven months after 'Dr. No' was released, 1.5 million copies of the novel were sold.
