7 replies to this topic

[SAWfinger]

Who did Ian Fleming base James Bond on? There have been lots of candidates and suggestions over the years. Was Merlin Minshall an influence? Check out the JBIFC's article 'Merlin Minshall: The Original 007?', at: www.007info

[AMC Hornet]

Minshall says so (Guilt-Edged) - but then, so do many others.

 

I read a book once called 'The Real 007' about a commando named Thomas Langridge, who apparently went on missions with Cmdr Fleming. I'm never heard a word about this character since, so I suspect the story was pure fiction (especially the scene where he helps Fleming come up with the name for his character).

[JCRendle]

Fleming put a lot of himself into the character, from his indulgences to his military intelligence know-how. James Bond was in a way a romanticised version of himself - we've all dreamed that we could go on these wonderful adventures, Fleming just went one step further and made money from his dreams.  

[saint mark]

To answer some of your questions.

 

http://www.amazon.co...m Vivian Butler

[Guy Haines]

I agree with JCRendle. Bond was largely based on Ian Fleming, at least when it came to the personal details. Others from real life may have been thrown into the mix - for example, the Yugoslav double agent Dusko Popov, or Sir Fitzroy Maclean, another agent with connections to Yugoslavia as was. But when you read about Fleming and then read about Bond in the novels, the main influence, imho, was Ian Fleming himself.

[Dustin]

One of the many varied sources of inspiration for James Bond may have been the man Fleming deemed 'the most formidable spy in history', Richard Sorge.

http://www.historyne...the-soviets.htm

http://www.richardsorge.com

(how he comes to have a .com site over 70 years after his death is anybody's guess I suppose...)

[Four Aces]

Aaron Bank

[Emrayfo]

Contributer quantumofsolace, interestingly, posted some possible answers to this topic 14 days before this topic was created: http://debrief.comma...red-james-bond/