John Gavin as Bond?
Andy007
Posts: 100MI6 Agent
After being cast as a backup in Diamonds Are Forever, in case Connery refused the film - Gavin was never to play Bond. The producers obviously thought of him as a credible choice as Bond, so was he approached for LALD? Was he ever considered for LALD, does anyone know - or was it always a case of pursuing Moore for this one?
Comments
Good question - but there's no evidence to my knowledge that he was ever in the frame for Live And Let Die. Things may have moved on in the interm - he didn't look like a 1970s star, being a bit clean cut, plus he was American. I'm glad he wasn't Bond - in Thoroughly Modern Millie he seemed very bland - almost as if that were the joke. Maybe it was, and I'm being unfair.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It's an interesting question, but as Napoleon says, there's no evidence he was back in the frame for LALD. I think your original post is slightly off @Andy007 in that Gavin wasn't signed as back up to Connery, he was signed to be Bond in DAF, and would have been but for a last ditch attempt by United Artists executive David Picker to get Connery. Eon would have gone ahead with Gavin, but UA definitely wanted Connery, hence the deal that Sean could make two movies of his choice under the UA banner. Only one movie was made, The Offence, a film which features possibly Connery's best ever screen performance. Gavin was paid off in full for the movie despite not working a single day.
I will never understand how Gavin was signed up as Bond, he was the only weak link in Psycho, if he had starred in DAF it may well have finished the whole series.