Why Richard Johnson would have been a lousy James Bond [RIP]

Daily Telegraph (UK) ^

[Perdogg]

With a voice that sounded as if it was preserved in oak and dark good looks straight out of a Bronte novel, it’s a surprise that Richard Johnson (who died today) never became an A-list film star. However, the career which he carved out on stage and screen was probably far more interesting – and durable – than a life at the mercy of a big studio would have allowed.

Certainly his bid for the big time was thwarted early on. MGM, who had been impressed with his performance in Never So Few (1959), signed him to a multi-million pound deal, and yet his next role, in Biblical epic King of Kings, ended up in the editing suite dustbin.

[Perdogg]

ping

[yarddog]

There has been only one James Bond.

Pierce Brosnan could have been OK if he were a little bit tougher looking and didn’t have to appear in the movies he was in.

[Huntress]

Yes, indeed.

[Conservative4Ever]

HAH....very good.

[Michael.SF.]

The least they could have done was wait until after the wake before pissing on his grave.

[vetvetdoug]

He was married to Kim Novak for a year. That should by itself be worth a note in a biography.

[greene66]

It does seem awfully classless.

[dangus]

I’m thinking horndog Bond would never survive being “Dick Johnson.”

[Sans-Culotte]

He may mot have been right for 007, but I enjoyed Richard Johnson in many films. RIP.

[a fool in paradise]

Was Hugh Johnson ever a James Bond villain?

[katana]

I mainly remember Johnson as the professor investigating the paranormal in the original The Haunting, with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. Good actor but without the combination of ultra sophistication and sadistic joy in the violence that Connery brought to Bond. None of the Bonds after him ever came close, although Daniel Craig at least tried.

[mylife]

As much as I love Connery as Bond, I truly love Alec Guinness as George Smiley, In the Le Carre spy series, And now we have Jamie Bell as Abraham Woodhull in the stunning TV series “Turn”

[nickcarraway]

George Lazenby?

[Rummyfan]

Pierce Brosnan needed some of the pretty knocked off him.

[Rummyfan]

He was very good in Khartoum and Operation Crossbow, taking two examples.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Craig ? Fail. No charm, no wit, no panache. A Blonde icicle.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[katana]

Only said “tried”. Didn’t say “succeeded”. Connery set the standard with smooth and effortless sophistication and a twinkle in the as he brutally murdered the bad guys.

[miss marmelstein]

And I thought the NY Times held the record for turning obituaries into bad reviews.