George Lazenby facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
George Lazenby
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Lazenby at the 2008 Big Apple Comic Con
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George Robert Lazenby
5 September 1939 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1963–2024 |
| Known for | James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 6 (1 deceased) |
George Robert Lazenby (born 5 September 1939) is an Australian retired actor. He started his career as a model and only acted in commercials before he was chosen to play James Bond. He took over the role from Sean Connery.
Lazenby played James Bond in the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). He only appeared in one Bond film, which makes his time as Bond the shortest among all the actors. He decided not to play Bond again and instead took on other roles. Some of his other films include Universal Soldier (1971) and The Man from Hong Kong (1975).
Because he only played Bond once, some people use his name as a way to describe acting efforts that are not very memorable in other movie series. In 2024, Lazenby stopped acting. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family and that he was getting older. In 2025, his ex-wife Pam Shriver wrote an article saying she was helping care for him.
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Early Life and Career
George Robert Lazenby was born on 5 September 1939 in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. His father, George Edward Lazenby, worked for the railway. His mother, Sheila Joan Lazenby, worked in retail.
He went to Goulburn Public School and then Goulburn High School until 1954. When he was young, he had an operation that meant he spent 18 months in the hospital.
Around age 14, George and his family moved to Queanbeyan. There, his father ran a store. George served in the Australian Army. After that, he worked as a car salesman and a mechanic.
Becoming a Model
In 1964, Lazenby moved to London. He wanted to be with a woman he had fallen in love with. He became a car salesman in Finchley. A talent scout noticed him there and suggested he become a model.
Soon, he was earning a lot of money as a model. He was well-known for appearing in a commercial for Fry's chocolate bars. In 1966, he was named Top Model of the Year.
Playing James Bond
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In 1968, after Sean Connery stopped playing James Bond, producer Albert R. Broccoli met Lazenby. They were both getting their hair cut at the same barbershop. Broccoli later saw Lazenby in the Big Fry commercial. He thought Lazenby might be able to play Bond. So, he invited him to try out for the role.
Lazenby dressed like James Bond for his audition. He wore a Rolex Submariner watch and a suit that Sean Connery's tailor had made. During the audition, Lazenby accidentally punched a professional wrestler who was helping with stunts. This showed Broccoli that Lazenby could be tough, which impressed him.
Director Peter R. Hunt felt that even though Lazenby was in the movie, it didn't make him a trained actor.
In July 1969, after making On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby went back home to Queanbeyan to see his parents. He said he had many film offers, but most were not good. He added that he had to "wait and see." He also told the press he wasn't ready for big roles like Hamlet but would love to play Ned Kelly.
Lazenby was offered the chance to play Bond again in The Man with the Golden Gun. However, before On Her Majesty's Secret Service was even released, Lazenby decided to leave the Bond role. His agent, Ronan O'Rahilly, told him that secret agents might seem old-fashioned in the 1970s. Lazenby also felt he was not treated well on the movie set.
Some of his co-stars, like Diana Rigg and Desmond Llewelyn, thought Lazenby had made a mistake. Lazenby knew they were worried but said he had made the right choice.
When On Her Majesty's Secret Service came out, critics had mixed feelings about Lazenby's performance. They thought he looked like Bond, but his acting lines were not always strong. Over the years, people have started to like his performance more.
Broccoli publicly defended Lazenby's acting. He said Lazenby was great for the Bond role, even if he wasn't the best actor. However, Broccoli did say he found Lazenby's attitude after the movie annoying. He felt Lazenby didn't respect the character and was arrogant.
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Lazenby was considered to play James Bond again in Never Say Never Again. But Sean Connery was chosen for that role instead.
Lazenby has appeared as James Bond in funny spoofs and unofficial 007 roles. These include the 1983 TV movie The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., where his character was only called J. B. He also appeared in the 1996 video game Fox Hunt. In 2012, Lazenby was a guest on the Canadian comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. He made fun of the 007 series in a skit.
After James Bond
A year after On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby made another film called Universal Soldier (1971). He also helped write this movie. He said the film was "anti-guns and anti-Bond." Because he felt he was treated poorly on the Bond set, he looked for a director he could work better with. He found Cy Endfield. Lazenby even helped pay for the film.
Lazenby admitted that after he left the Bond role, it was hard to get hired. He got very few roles, and his agent said he was "difficult."
Lazenby then appeared in the 1972 Italian film Who Saw Her Die? with Anita Strindberg. He lost a lot of weight for this role and received good reviews. He then spent 15 months sailing around the world with Chrissie Townson. Their trip ended when she became pregnant, which made Lazenby decide to settle down and try to restart his acting career.
In February 1973, he said he had spent all the money he earned from playing Bond. He felt that if he had continued in the role, he would have gone crazy from the stress. He later said, "I burnt some bridges behind me, and it was fun, really. I'm sort of glad I did it and I know I won't have to do it again. I can look back and laugh because I didn't hurt anyone — except myself."
Lazenby played a role in the BBC's Play for Today series in 1973. He starred in Roger Smith's The Operation.
Working in Hong Kong
In 1973, Lazenby said he had no money when he went to Hong Kong. He met Bruce Lee and producer Raymond Chow. They offered him money to be in a film with Lee, which was going to be the Golden Harvest film Game of Death. However, the plan fell apart after Bruce Lee's sudden death. Lazenby was supposed to have dinner with Lee on the day Lee died.
In the end, Lazenby made three films for Golden Harvest. These were The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss, The Man from Hong Kong (1975), and A Queen's Ransom (1976).
Acting in Australia
In the mid-1970s, Lazenby appeared in several TV movies made in his home country, Australia. He also appeared in an episode of the police drama series Matlock Police. He went back to modeling too, appearing in commercials for Benson & Hedges cigarettes. In a 1977 interview, he said he didn't really feel like an actor because he had so few acting jobs. He hoped he could find more work.
Moving to Hollywood
In the late 1970s, Lazenby moved to Hollywood, California. There, he started taking acting lessons. He worked hard to get more acting jobs.
In 1978, Broccoli said that casting Lazenby was his biggest mistake. He claimed Lazenby couldn't handle fame and called him "very arrogant." Broccoli felt Lazenby didn't understand how a film set worked and didn't get along well with the cast and crew. Sean Connery defended Lazenby. He said Lazenby had not acted arrogantly when he knew him. Connery instead used that word to describe Broccoli.
Lazenby later said: "It hasn't been easy, trying to climb back. I admit I acted stupidly. It went to my head, everything that was happening to me. But remember, it was my first film. Now what I've got to do is live down my past; convince people I'm not the same person who made a fool of himself all those years ago. I know I can do it. All I need is the chance."
In 1978, he put an advertisement in Variety. He offered to act in any role for very little money. He told a journalist, "People ask me if the Bond movie wasn't worth it if it got me into acting. It's true that it got me in, but it wasn't worth the ten years it cost me." The next year, he had a big supporting role in Saint Jack (1979). This film was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. An Australian magazine called it "one of the best things – if not the best thing – Lazenby ever did outside of Bond."
Lazenby really wanted a role in The Thorn Birds. However, that project was made years later without him. He did get roles in Hawaii Five-O and Evening in Byzantium. The latter was seen by Harry Saltzman, who offered him a main role in a science fiction film called The Micronauts.
Lazenby made a guest appearance as Jor-El on the TV series Superboy in 1990. He appeared with Sylvia Kristel in several new films in 1993. Many of these were shown on cable television. In 1993, Lazenby had a part in the film Gettysburg. He played Confederate Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew.
On 5 November 2013, comedian Jim Jefferies said in an interview that Lazenby would play Jefferies's father in the second season of his TV show Legit. Lazenby appeared as himself in the 2017 docudrama Becoming Bond. In 2019, Lazenby played Dr. Jason Love in an audiobook version of James Leasor's spy novel Passport to Oblivion.
In 2024, Lazenby announced he was retiring from acting and public appearances. He said this was because of his age and his wish to spend more time with his family.
Personal Life
When he was 21 and working as a car salesman, Lazenby had a daughter named Jennifer with Maureen Powell. She was an Australian army sergeant at the time.
In 1973, Lazenby married Christina Ross "Chrissie" Townson. She was an heiress from the Gannett family. They had two children together. Their daughter, Melanie Andrea Lazenby, was born on 13 September 1973. Their son, Zachary "Zack" Lazenby, was born on 9 November 1974. Sadly, Zachary passed away at age 19 in 1994. George and Chrissie divorced shortly after, in 1995. Melanie now works as a real estate broker in New York.
In 2002, Lazenby married former tennis player Pam Shriver. They had three children, including a son named George Junior Lazenby, born on 12 July 2004. The family lived in Brentwood, California. In August 2008, it was reported that Shriver had filed for divorce from Lazenby. Their divorce was finalized in May 2011.
In late 2023, Lazenby was hurt in a fall and was in the hospital for a short time. On 18 December, he returned home.
Filmography
See also
In Spanish: George Lazenby para niños
