Desmond Llewellyn

Desmond Llewellyn is best known for his portrayal of “Q” in the James Bond films. I was saddened when I learned in a car accident in 1999. He appeared in more James Bond films than any other actor and was working with his fifth Bond (Brosnan), having worked with Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton.

The thing I always loved about the character of Q was that he was the only character in the series who is not in awe of James Bond. All the women had the hots for him; all of his superiors implored him to save the world, and Q was always saying, “Now listen closely, 007,” and “Don’t touch that!”

While doing a bit of web surfing, I came across a fascinating irony: at the outbreak of World War II, Desmond Llewellyn was a lieutenant in the British Royal Army who was captured in May of 1940. He spent five years in a German POW camp. Here’s the irony: Desmond Llewellyn served on the camp’s Escape Committee and was responsible for getting gadgets sent into the camp through Red Cross parcels.

John Cleese has taken over Llewellyn’s role in Bond’s life, playing “R.” I think it’s a shame he was never knighted.

p.s. Sometimes the gag writer in me thinks up scenarios that I’ll never get to produce. I think it would be hilarious if you got together a group of women who played Bond girls from Ursula Andress to Jill St. John to Denise Richards and have a vote by secret ballot as to who was the sexiest man in the Bond movies. The punchline, of course, is that there would be an upset winner: Desmond Llewellyn. I can imagine that Desmond Llewellyn was very popular with the ladies. After all, he had amazing equipment and he knew how to use it. ;)