007 'Bond’ Notorious Womanizer in Front of Cam, Gay in Back
Film producers worried former Bond star and notorious womanizer George Lazenby was gay according to new documentary
His rakish charm and womanising ways are renowned as Britain's most famous smooth-talking agent.
But it has emerged that film producers were initially concerned whether an actor playing James Bond was gay - and even sent a girl up to his apartment to find out.
George Lazenby, who had been a model and featured in television commercials before making his Bond debut in the 1969 release On Her Majesty's Secret Service, first left colleagues questioning his sexuality.
According to the Sunday Express, Australian-born Lazenby recalled: 'They sent a girl up to my apartment to make sure I wasn't gay. A little while later they had their answer. I sure as hell wasn't.'
As the iconic role brought stardom and numerous admirers, the actor went on to become known as the most notorious womaniser of all the Bond actors.
'Suddenly I was James Bond and you can imagine what that did to me. I didn't want to brag but I had at least one girl a day.
'There was a tent on set where the stuntmen used to keep mattresses they fell on in fight scenes. It was a good place to take a chick if you were in a hurry.'
On set: Actors Telly Savalas and George Lazanby filming On Her Majesty's Secret Service in Switzerland
Suave: A close-up of George Lazenby as James Bond in a scene from On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Fame: 007 George Lazenby replies to his critics on his return from America
Stevan Riley, who directed and edited the documentary Everything Or Nothing, which chronicles the 50-year history of 007, admitted his surprise at the actor's admission.
'I had no way of confirming if the story was true, I just left it on the edit and waited to see if Eon approved it.
Celebrating the narrative behind the longest film franchise in cinema history, Riley's documentary focuses on three men with a shared dream - Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli or Cubby, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming.
Produced to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Bond movie Dr No and set to air in Odeon cinemas next Friday, Riley's documentary follows the inside story to the franchise, following unprecedented access to EON Productions' archive and actors from the films.
The feature will show how those who strove to be like Bond and emulate the lifestyle ultimately paid the price for it, exploring the extent of the battles and threats behind the camera.
Saltzman went bankrupt and Lazenby fought alcohol and drug addiction and had to move back in with his mother because he had so little money left.
Sean Connery, who hung up his spy shoes in 1973 when Roger Moore took over in Live and Let Die, is the only Bond actor who did not participate in the feature.
Other worldwide events celebrating half a century of James Bond in cinema include the release of Skyfall featuring Daniel Craig on October 23, a global online and live charity auction organised by Christie's in London, a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and a Music of Bond night in Los Angeles hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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