Which bond was the most famous?

Jarvio

Which actor that played 007 was the most famous actor AT THE TIME they were announced as bond?

Connery to my understanding was mostly unknown before bond, Lazenby was definitely unknown, Moore was the saint, Dalton I'm unsure, Brosnan remington steele, and Craig kind of known but not that much... Could it be Moore maybe?

Blackleiter

My guess would be Moore because of The Saint and The Persuaders.

Firemass

I've never seen The Saint and I probably never well... just being honest. Do younger audiences have any recollection of these older TV shows? I sure don't. I haven't seen the Avengers either.

Charmed & Dangerous

Back in the day, in the UK The Saint was massive - one of the biggest shows on TV along with Danger Man and The Avengers. TV was far more limited and there were fewer US programmes. So stars like Roger Moore were household names and the TV audiences were huge by comparison.

For what it's worth, The Saint hasn't stood the same test of time as The Prisoner IMHO, though its nostalgic to catch an episode on TV every now and then.

Thunderpussy

I'd go with Roger Moore as well. The Saint was a huge hit world wide.
In one of his showbiz stories Sir Roger tells of filming The Persuaders
with Tony Curtis and how in the south of France several bus loads of
tourists Pulled up and came running over for autographs etc. Tony Curtis
( who though TV was a step down for him ) couldn't believe it when they
all headed straight for Sir Roger, as he was known all oner the world as
he was in peoples houses every week.
Apparently that was when T Curtis found out how powerful TV was. )

To be honest when they were announced I had to look up
Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig.

davidelliott101

Firemass wrote:

I've never seen The Saint and I probably never well... just being honest. Do younger audiences have any recollection of these older TV shows? I sure don't. I haven't seen the Avengers either.

Well, the question was "at the time of being cast"... For what it's worth, I was an 8 year old American boy in 1973 and knew who Roger Moore was at the time, since I watched The Saint somehow...

Brosnan is a close second, because of Remington Steele, then Mrs Doubtfire

Cuno

I would imagine Sean Connery.

Charmed & Dangerous

Connery was unknown before Bond. He had one or two minor roles in relatively low budget British films but wasn't anywhere near as famous as Sir Roge at the time each won the role of Bond.

always shaken

Blackleiter wrote:

My guess would be Moore because of The Saint and The Persuaders.

Yep id go along with our friend from D.C
has to be Sir Roger,( but as he was a ex neighbour of mine id vote for him any way )

ixtore

Moore was a big name, and one of the few that Fleming had wanted from the beginning. So I must say that Moore was the bigger name when he first took on the Bond role.
Though, it would be safe to say that Connery is the one that Bond made a star, and he continued during the Bond films to build his career and become the biggest film star of any from the Bond series.

chrisisall

In 1973 (yes I go back that far) The Saint & The Persuaders had Moore up there, but in the 80's and into the 90's, in America, Remington Steele was much more well known. So, from a totally American POV, Brosnan gets the nod here. -{

007bond

Daniel Craig was a pretty respected actor at time. Tomb Raider, Layer cake, Elizabeth, Our friends in the North, Road to perdration, Munich.

ixtore

Well, if I remember correctly, Steele was running when Moore was about to leave the Bond series and Brosnan couldn't get out of his contract. Then EON went with Dalton and meanwhile Steele went off the air. So there was a little gap there before Brosnan came in as Bond --- though he did have a good kick start in the U.S. because of it.
The Saint ran for eight seasons and was an international hit series. But Steele ran six seasons.
You know, you're probably right. Brosnan, I'm sure, had a bigger 'Q' rating here in the states that Moore.
Brosnan it is!

walther p99

007bond wrote:

Daniel Craig was a pretty respected actor at time. Tomb Raider, Layer cake, Elizabeth, Our friends in the North, Road to perdration, Munich.

although your certainly right about that, i would say at the time he was relatively unknown by most, at least from what i remember of his casting and even 6 years later i find alot of people don't even who he is. Im not familiar with Moore or the popularity of the Saint, but i would say Brosnan because as others have noted he was already an established presence on the small screen with Steele and in a few films like Mrs Doubtfire prior to his casting, he was pretty big before Bond.

Jamesbondjr

Roger Moore. Other Bond actors may have been known to a certain degree but nothing compared to the fame that Roger Moore achieved with The Saint and The Persuaders.