Who is the best Felix Leiter?

osrisosris Posts: 558MI6 Agent
in The James Bond Films
It’s such an small role to play in the Bond films that few actors can be blamed for standing out in the role. I would say David Hedison made a good go of it, though. Any others?
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Comments

  • always shakenalways shaken LondonPosts: 6,287MI6 Agent
    Simple Jack Lord , he then went on to play
    Steve Mcgarett in Hawaii five o
    By the way, did I tell you, I was "Mad"?
  • osrisosris Posts: 558MI6 Agent
    Yes, he was a memorable one.
  • Smiert-SpionamSmiert-Spionam Posts: 318MI6 Agent
    1. David Heddison
    2. Jeffrey Wright
    3. Jack Lord
    Smiert Spionam
  • JarvioJarvio EnglandPosts: 4,241MI6 Agent
    David Heddison, hands down
    1 - LALD, 2 - AVTAK, 3 - LTK, 4 - OP, 5 - NTTD, 6 - FYEO, 7 - SF, 8 - DN, 9 - DAF, 10 - TSWLM, 11 - OHMSS, 12 - TMWTGG, 13 - GE, 14 - MR, 15 - TLD, 16 - YOLT, 17 - GF, 18 - DAD, 19 - TWINE, 20 - SP, 21 - TND, 22 - FRWL, 23 - TB, 24 - CR, 25 - QOS

    1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby
  • Mister GreeneMister Greene Posts: 224MI6 Agent
    I kind of liked the one in ThunderBall can't recall his name but I thought he was good
  • TheundeadkennedyTheundeadkennedy Posts: 292MI6 Agent
    Bernie Casey
  • LastRatStandingLastRatStanding ScotlandPosts: 296MI6 Agent
    Hedison IS Felix Leiter to me!
    Now, they only eat rat.
  • PeppermillPeppermill DelftPosts: 2,860MI6 Agent
    edited February 2013
    I have never seen the friendship between Bond and Leiter in the movies like there is in the novels by Fleming. They are good friends, talk about cars, drinks, food and Felix even has a battle cry for 007. No actor ever got to act with the same Bond until Wright in CR and QoS. So I don't think any Felix in the movies is "best" but I do have an opinion.

    -Jack Lord. It would have been great if he would have been Felix until 1973. I would have liked to see him develop a bond (no pun intended) with Connery's 007 and be mauled by a shark in LALD.
    -Dave Hedison. The Felix in LALD. Another chance to start a continuation with this character. He was the first and last Felix Leiter in the Roger Moore era. The shark scene that was eventually used in LTK could have been used in this film and Hedisson could have had all the scenes with Moore in the upcoming films that Fleming wrote after the second novel. The scenes that weren't used from DAF for instance. Alas, Hedison is the one that gets eaten by a shark and survives and this brings us to….

    -Jack Wade!
    1. Ohmss 2. Frwl 3. Op 4. Tswlm 5. Tld 6. Ge 7. Yolt 8. Lald 9. Cr 10. Ltk 11. Dn 12. Gf 13. Qos 14. Mr 15. Tmwtgg 16. Fyeo 17. Twine 18. Sf 19. Tb 20 Tnd 21. Spectre 22 Daf 23. Avtak 24. Dad
  • chrisisallchrisisall Western Mass, USAPosts: 9,062MI6 Agent
    David Hedison & Bernie Casey were the best.
    Dalton & Connery rule. Brozz was cool.
    #1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
  • FiremassFiremass AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
    David Hedison by far.

    The ones in Thunderball and Living Daylights were awful!
    My current 10 favorite:

    1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
  • Moore ThanMoore Than EnglandPosts: 3,173MI6 Agent
    David Hedison is not only my favourite Felix Leiter but one of my favourite actors. Real screen presence, charisma, timing, charm. Such a natural and made it look effortless. A bit like his very good friend Roger Moore.
    Moore Not Less 4371 posts (2002 - 2007) Moore Than (2012 - 2016)
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Jack Lord was cool - but he worked with the Connery persona in Dr No, where he was more a real guy, rather brusque and dour. Later, as he became more suave superman, Lord would have been a bit crowded out by his ego; that's why subsequent Leiter's were less manly, offered less competition (and of course Rik Van Nutter in TB seems to get belittled a lot, it's all 'You're right, James' lackey stuff).

    In a way that Leiter of GF is closest to the 'old woman' that Leiter seems to be in the novel TB, where they bang on and grumble about food in restaurants and how to serve a martini! Like the sort of American who gets sent up in The Graduate.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • DEFIANT 74205DEFIANT 74205 Perth, AustraliaPosts: 1,881MI6 Agent
    David Hedison, definitely. The way he portrayed Leiter in Licence to Kill in particular, was magnificent, it was almost as though he was playing the Leiter from the books.
    "Watch the birdie, you bastard!"
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    David Hedison
    Jack Lord
    Rik Van Nutter
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • Brosnan_fanBrosnan_fan Sydney, AustraliaPosts: 521MI6 Agent
    Lord, Jack Lord. :D B-)

    Followed by Rik Van Nutter.
    "Well, he certainly left with his tails between his legs."
  • osrisosris Posts: 558MI6 Agent
    Mister Greene wrote:
    I kind of liked the one in ThunderBall can't recall his name but I thought he was good

    Rik Van Nutter? I liked him, too. He reminded me of Clint Eastwood.
  • osrisosris Posts: 558MI6 Agent
    Would the film Leiter in subsequent films after LTK have worked if the character had been allowed to have a hook for a hand and a prosthetic leg after the shark attack, like in the novels?
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    edited February 2013
    Rik Van Nutter was probably the closest to the Leiter character in the books, description-wise, but David Hedison probably got his character down the best - especially in LALD. He had a great chemistry with Roger Moore. Moore's line to Hedison's Leiter "...and then you can buy me the best lunch in New York" is straight out of the LALD 1954 novel, and it captures the relationship in the books with very great economy of words. It's a pity Moore only had one film with Hedison's Leiter. He could have been utilised in TMWTGG as well.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • ZorinIndustriesZorinIndustries United StatesPosts: 837MI6 Agent
    Hedison is fantastic, but I don't think Cec Linder gets his share. He did a great job serving as a watchdog to 007 for the second half of GF and I think he and Connery had pretty good screen presence together.

    Dink?!
    "Better luck next time... slugheads!"

    1. GoldenEye 2. Goldfinger 3. Skyfall 4. OHMSS 5. TWINE
  • davidelliott101davidelliott101 Posts: 165MI6 Agent
    Hedison... hands down. I would have loved to see him and Moore bar hopping in LALD, like the novel.
  • DieAnotherDayDieAnotherDay Glasgow, ScotlandPosts: 460MI6 Agent
    David Heddison is the best Felix Leiter IMO, I especially liked Him in LALD, I thought his chemistry with Roger Moore worked very well on screen more than it did with Dalton. Jack Lord is just behind him as he felt as much like a secret agent in Dr No as James Bond did. Norman Burton was the worst, just coming off as an unfit annoying American ....so and so
    ....and the best he ever managed was a sermon on the mount.
  • BlackleiterBlackleiter Washington, DCPosts: 5,615MI6 Agent
    I agree! In fact, I like Casey's Felix so much that he is the inspiration for my name.
    Theundeadkennedy wrote:
    Bernie Casey
    "Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
  • Mr BeechMr Beech Florida, USAPosts: 1,749MI6 Agent
    David Hedison made the character memorable, but my favorite is Jeffrey Wright.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,861Chief of Staff
    Hedison, then Wright. Bottom of the list is Burton (in DAF).
  • TheundeadkennedyTheundeadkennedy Posts: 292MI6 Agent
    Blackleiter wrote:
    I agree! In fact, I like Casey's Felix so much that he is the inspiration for my name.
    Theundeadkennedy wrote:
    Bernie Casey

    Yeah he was pretty much awesome. He's the only Felix that would keep up with Bond if things got real crazy.
    Hedison is definitely my second favorite though.
  • FiremassFiremass AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
    Blackleiter wrote:
    I agree! In fact, I like Casey's Felix so much that he is the inspiration for my name.
    Theundeadkennedy wrote:
    Bernie Casey

    Yet your signature is from the other "black leiter" in Casino Royale... hmm I did ask you about this in my NSNA DVD thread. ;)
    My current 10 favorite:

    1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
  • 00730073 COPPosts: 1,061MI6 Agent
    Jack Lord, there's no other!

    He's the only one that you can imagine any of the Bonds doing any serious drinking with.
    "I mean, she almost kills bond...with her ass."
    -Mr Arlington Beech
  • BlackleiterBlackleiter Washington, DCPosts: 5,615MI6 Agent
    True about my signature, but I like it because it refers to a "brother" from Langley. By the way, I'm a big fan of Wright's Felix as well, but Bernie Casey was given more to do in the role.
    Firemass wrote:
    Blackleiter wrote:
    I agree! In fact, I like Casey's Felix so much that he is the inspiration for my name.
    Theundeadkennedy wrote:
    Bernie Casey

    Yet your signature is from the other "black leiter" in Casino Royale... hmm I did ask you about this in my NSNA DVD thread. ;)
    "Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Diamonds-Are-Forever-James-Bond-Sean-Connery-Sid-Haig-Marc-Lawrence.png

    "I've got a brother..."
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    Diamonds-Are-Forever-James-Bond-Sean-Connery-Sid-Haig-Marc-Lawrence.png

    "I've got a brother..."

    "A small world"
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
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