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Telegraph
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
How Bond illustrator tackled a toad for 007 book cover
Ian Fleming's illustrator tried to catch a toad while drawing one of the amphibians for the James Bond series. Richard Chopping designed covers for the 007 books, including You Only Live Twice, which featured a toad sitting beneath a chrysanthemum. A first edition of the 1964 novel that includes a lengthy inscription detailing his artistic methods and how he believed he was being scammed by the author has now emerged. It revealed that he insisted on reading the novels before deciding on a theme, despite an impatient Fleming telling him: 'You don't want to do that, it's all rubbish.' Chopping, who chose the symbolic image of a large toad, wanted to sketch from a live model, and tried and failed to catch one of the creatures at a nature reserve near his home in Wivenhoe, Essex. After the failure, a friend said he could borrow her daughter's pet toad as long as it was returned to its vivarium when he had finished. Chopping wrote: 'Fleming had very little to do with this cover, I chose the objects and dispersed them as I wanted. 'He used to tell me what he wanted but I got fed up with that and said, 'I must read the book first'. He said, 'Oh you don't want to do that, it's all rubbish'. He continued: 'The chrysanthemum was difficult but I had a dragonfly. 'But the toad did present difficulties. Eventually I found one by asking around. It came from a friend's daughter who taught school in London. 'She left the key hidden of her flat and I had to pick it up from her vivarium and return it when I'd finished. It did tend to sit fairly still but every once in a while I would look up and it had lumbered off my drawing board. 'I had to catch flies for it as I am such a slow worker. For all I know the model still lives.' Chopping also claimed that Fleming did not pay him enough for his work, complaining that the author was 'rather mean' and offered him 'peanuts' for his work. He wrote: 'Fleming was rather mean. When I asked him if I could have a 'ROYALTY' on the books instead of him buying my pictures outright for peanuts... He said, almost before I finished my sentence, 'No – my company wouldn't wear it' so I upped my fee thereafter but they were still cheap.' The inscription was found in a first edition of You Only Live Twice, which was given to a friend of Chopping's as a gift and has been put up for auction for £300. Daniel Wright, the auctioneer, said: 'It is a very interesting item and gives us an insight into the relationship between Fleming and Chopping. 'I don't think they really got on and certainly Chopping thought he was being scammed by Fleming over a lack of royalty payments for his work.'
The Age
27-04-2025
- The Age
The ancient Japanese tradition that's unknown to most tourists
The elderly women sit in a semicircle by a smouldering fire, warming up after diving for shellfish delicacies in the cool waters off the coast of Toba in Japan. These women, called ama – Japanese for women of the sea – are part of a tradition spanning thousands of years. Their diving practice is mentioned in ancient classical literature and there's a reference to ama dating back to AD927 in Japan's Heian period. Toba, at the north-eastern end of the Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture, once flourished as the castle town of the Kuki family, who ruled the region from the 16th century. Today, with its many offshore islands, the peninsula is a popular holiday destination for beach-goers, surfers and seafood lovers. But it is the living legends, the ama, whom I have come to see. The ama of this area traditionally presented abalone to the shrine of Ise Jingu and imperial emperors. Today, we visit two traditional diving huts, called amagoyas, and are warmly welcomed. At our first stop, two ama, aged in their 70s, with weathered faces and warm smiles, tell us about their life in the sea. They burst into laughter as we try to converse by nodding, smiling and pointing and then resort to our interpreter. She asks if we saw the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, where a glamorised version of an ama emerges from the sea. The ama laugh at its unrealistic portrayal. We hear how, as young girls, these women started diving without oxygen tanks and wetsuits, collecting abalone and shellfish. Reiko Nomura, 77, says she's a fourth-generation ama and very proud of her profession. She was taught everything she knows by an elder ama and she, in turn, has taught others. The ama have developed a unique method of breath control to protect themselves from the bends. After surfacing they let out a long whistle. Their sea whistling, described as a mournful melody, is rated among the top 100 soundscapes of Japan. At one time, ama dived for Akoya pearl oysters but this has long been abandoned because of the rise in cultivated pearls, a process invented in Toba by Kokichi Mikimoto in the late 19th century. The coastline here is rugged, with pebbly bays and rocky headlands, and is an ideal habitat for sea urchin, abalone, various forms of seaweeds and Pacific spiny lobster. Collecting abalone is hard work and the ama use a long stick, descending eight to 10 metres, either diving from small boats or swimming out from the beach. They only have as long as their breath holds - about 60 seconds - to prise the bounty from the rocks. The youngest of the ama stay in the water for up to four hours a day, resting and chatting with friends on a floating wooden box. Often they work just with their husband and dive from a boat with a lifeline and a weight that helps them descend quickly. They dive as deep as 30 metres to collect abalone, shells and agar-agar.
Sydney Morning Herald
27-04-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
The ancient Japanese tradition that's unknown to most tourists
The elderly women sit in a semicircle by a smouldering fire, warming up after diving for shellfish delicacies in the cool waters off the coast of Toba in Japan. These women, called ama – Japanese for women of the sea – are part of a tradition spanning thousands of years. Their diving practice is mentioned in ancient classical literature and there's a reference to ama dating back to AD927 in Japan's Heian period. Toba, at the north-eastern end of the Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture, once flourished as the castle town of the Kuki family, who ruled the region from the 16th century. Today, with its many offshore islands, the peninsula is a popular holiday destination for beach-goers, surfers and seafood lovers. But it is the living legends, the ama, whom I have come to see. The ama of this area traditionally presented abalone to the shrine of Ise Jingu and imperial emperors. Today, we visit two traditional diving huts, called amagoyas, and are warmly welcomed. At our first stop, two ama, aged in their 70s, with weathered faces and warm smiles, tell us about their life in the sea. They burst into laughter as we try to converse by nodding, smiling and pointing and then resort to our interpreter. She asks if we saw the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, where a glamorised version of an ama emerges from the sea. The ama laugh at its unrealistic portrayal. We hear how, as young girls, these women started diving without oxygen tanks and wetsuits, collecting abalone and shellfish. Reiko Nomura, 77, says she's a fourth-generation ama and very proud of her profession. She was taught everything she knows by an elder ama and she, in turn, has taught others. The ama have developed a unique method of breath control to protect themselves from the bends. After surfacing they let out a long whistle. Their sea whistling, described as a mournful melody, is rated among the top 100 soundscapes of Japan. At one time, ama dived for Akoya pearl oysters but this has long been abandoned because of the rise in cultivated pearls, a process invented in Toba by Kokichi Mikimoto in the late 19th century. The coastline here is rugged, with pebbly bays and rocky headlands, and is an ideal habitat for sea urchin, abalone, various forms of seaweeds and Pacific spiny lobster. Collecting abalone is hard work and the ama use a long stick, descending eight to 10 metres, either diving from small boats or swimming out from the beach. They only have as long as their breath holds - about 60 seconds - to prise the bounty from the rocks. The youngest of the ama stay in the water for up to four hours a day, resting and chatting with friends on a floating wooden box. Often they work just with their husband and dive from a boat with a lifeline and a weight that helps them descend quickly. They dive as deep as 30 metres to collect abalone, shells and agar-agar.
Metro
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
I'm a Pope lookalike who's never actually been booked as the Pope
A rent-a-Pope lookalike who's never been booked as the Pope and looks more like Jim Bowen than the Pope says it might not be too long until he hangs up his own Pope's cassock. Brian Holdom has worked as a lookalike for 20 years, bringing Henry VIII, Blofeld from James Bond, and Winston Churchill to events, parties, weddings and more. The 78-year-old worked in sales and marketing before turning his hand to the lookalike industry, after a friend told him he could make money out of his more than passing resemblance to actor Donald Pleasence. Despite getting fed up of being approached for autographs over the years – and seeing people get annoyed when he revealed he was not in fact the actor who starred in You Only Live Twice – Brian decided to create his own Blofeld character and turned his mistaken identity into a globetrotting career. Brian was starring as a Pope in a play at his local theatre about 12 years ago when one of his fellow cast members told him he looked a bit like Pope Francis, who became head of the Catholic Church in 2013 and died on Easter Monday aged 88. He decided to add the Pope to his repertoire and popped some pictures onto his website – but Brian, from Croydon in south London, tells Metro he's never actually been hired to play the pontiff. 'I performed in a local play, and people were saying at the time when I got the costume on, people were reacting differently around me,' he said. 'People were saying 'you do realise you do actually look like the current Pope', so because I do the other characters I thought I'll add it to my website as a bit of fun. 'I've never actually performed as the Pope as a lookalike though. 'I've had several enquiries over the years but for whatever reason I've never been able to take them up on it. 'There hasn't been much call for the Pope at corporate events and parties, which is what I do the most, the enquiries for the Pope were usually for long shots for films and documentaries.' This is the first time one of Brian's lookalike subjects has passed away during his career. His other real-life subjects, Henry VIII and Winston Churchill, died a very long time before he started working as a lookalike, and the characters he plays, Blomfeld from James Bond and The Penguin from Batman, are timeless. Brian hasn't decided yet whether he will stop offering his services as a Pope lookalike now that Pope Francis has passed away, but seeing as he's never had a paid job as the Pope, his death won't have an impact on his business. 'My main characters which get the most bookings are Blofer, Churchill and Henry VIII in that order,' he explained. 'The most memorable Blofel was played by Donald Pleasence who died several years ago, and he's fictional which immortalised him. 'I was only 19 years old when Churchill died, so I wasn't playing the character then. 'But as I get older and because I've been doing Blofeld for so long I was getting a bit bored of him. 'I have much more fun as Churchill, he's a much warmer character and has great appeal, and the Pope was a nice chap.' Brian says he's considering when to hang up his cassock and other costumes, and is waiting for his body to tell him when it's time to pack it in. More Trending 'The reason I still do it is it's so much fun. I wouldn't have been able to go to so many places and events in the normal run of life,' he explained. 'I've been over the world, across America and Europe, it's just remarkable. 'Working as a sales director of a company I look back at the meetings and presentations and they were very theatrical in their own way, so I think this was in me looking to get out.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 7 freebies 2025 London Marathon runners can claim this weekend MORE: Here's why Pope Francis's ring will be destroyed by a hammer MORE: Notting Hill Carnival 'at risk of a Hillsborough-scale tragedy'
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Every actor who has played James Bond, ranked from worst to best
James Bond is entering a new era as Amazon MGM has taken creative control over the franchise. The franchise has been in limbo since Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond in 2021's "No Time To Die." Below, Business Insider has ranked all seven actors who have portrayed Bond in film. Over 60 years and 25 movies, seven actors have played the legendary spy James Bond on-screen over the past 60 years. Daniel Craig was the latest to take on the character created by novelist Ian Fleming, bringing a darker, grittier tone to the franchise. His run came to an end in 2021's "No Time To Die," when his Bond, well, died. Fans of the movies, which have made $6.4 billion worldwide, have been waiting patiently for a new actor to take on the role after Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the longtime producers of the franchise, promised that would make more. But on Thursday, Amazon MGM studios announced it was taking creative control over the franchise, and will cast a new Bond and develop new films. Before we get a new 007, here's how the former actors weigh up against each other. David Niven (1967 - 1967) While most audiences will automatically think of Daniel Craig when thinking of "Casino Royale," there was actually another version of the story that arrived on the big screen back in 1967. (Yes, in the same year as Sean Connery's "You Only Live Twice.") Columbia Pictures' "Casino Royale" starred David Niven as James Bond, and it takes a much more comedic approach to Ian Fleming's book of the same name. The parody movie isn't connected to any of the other films, nor was it made by Eon Productions and Albert Broccoli. It was only made because Fleming sold the singular rights to the book before it was published in 1953. Niven's Bond is a much older agent, who's brought out of retirement to fight a nefarious organization called S.M.E.R.S.H. The Oscar-winning actor might bring some charm to the role, but the absurd story — which ends with him going to heaven — ruins the character and sucks all the suave coolness out of 007 completely. George Lazenby (1969-1969) The Australian actor George Lazenby is on this list as another matter of courtesy. He portrayed Bond once in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." He was drafted in by Eon Productions — the film's producers — after Sean Connery decided to step away. And he was promptly replaced by Roger Moore when the series resumed in 1973 with "Live and Let Die." Pierce Brosnan (1995-2002) After 15 years of Daniel Craig — who is eulogized later in this list — it is easy to forget the damage Pierce Brosnan did to the James Bond franchise, but it is important to revisit our lowest moments so we can grow. So here, I humbly ask, do we remember the unfortunate orange spray tan Brosnan sported throughout his time as 007? Or the awkward hyperpop theme songs such as Madonna's awful "Die Another Day." Brosnan's films even have bad guns. It is important to note that "GoldenEye" — Brosnan's first Bond film — was also the first film in the franchise not produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the film series originator, who had been succeeded by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, along with his stepson, Michael G. Wilson. But it has been reported that Brosnan was favored by Albert Broccoli, so maybe it was time for him to step down. Nonetheless, across his four-film run, Brosnan pushed Bond away from its steely, cool origins to something more Hollywood and less interesting. Roger Moore (1973-1985) Roger Moore suited up as James Bond a record seven times, and the bulk of his films were directed by the British director John Glen who had an unparalleled skill for capturing pure chaos on screen. And that is what Moore's Bond was best known for. In his seven-film run, Moore went to space, fought off a pack of crocodiles, and defused a nuclear bomb. And while Moore's Bond was charismatic and entertaining, there was rarely any substance to what he said, and there was even less plot to hold together all the big-budget stunts. And for this reason, Moore's seven films don't make for great rewatching. Timothy Dalton (1987-1989) The sole reason Timothy Dalton is not at the top of this list is that he portrayed Bond only twice, but this wasn't due to bad ratings or box-office numbers. His films "The Living Daylights" (1987) and "Licence to Kill" (1989) are two of the most beloved Bond films and Dalton's dark and often serious take on 007 is widely considered the most accurate interpretation of Ian Fleming's books. "I wanted to make him human," Dalton said of his interpretation of Bond during an interview in 2008. "He's not a superman; you can't identify with a superman. You can identify with the James Bond of the books. He's a tarnished man, really. I wanted to capture that occasional sense of vulnerability and I wanted to capture the spirit of Ian Fleming." As many people have stated before, Dalton's grounding of Bond paved the way for the franchise's most profitable period of releases with Daniel Craig's 007. Dalton's tenure, however, was cut short due to complex legal wrangling between the film's producers MGM and Eon Productions, which halted production until 1994, when his contract expired. Sean Connery (1962-1967) Sean Connery had a legendary acting career that spanned over 50 movies and included appearances in some of Hollywood's most iconic movies such as 1964's "Marnie," 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and 1987's "The Untouchables," for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. But when he died last year, he was best remembered as the first 007. According to Connery, however, his interpretation of 007 managed to charm everyone but Fleming. "I never got introduced to Fleming until I was well into the movie, but I know he was not happy with me as the choice," he said on "The South Bank Show" in 2008. Despite Fleming's reservations, Connery played the secret agent in seven films from 1962 to 1983, and his version is remembered as not only the coolest in the franchise but one of the coolest characters in cinematic history. Connery's powers as 007 came from his own charisma. As Barbara Walters best described in a 1987 interview, the Scotsman was someone who didn't try to be sexy; he simply oozed class. Connery can also claim to be the only Bond actor who actually managed to pull off the famous catchphrase, "Martini, shaken, not stirred" and make it sound cool. Best: Daniel Craig (2006-2021) Daniel Craig's Bond films are dark and physical and entertaining. But it is Craig's commercial success that has landed him atop this list. The numbers simply don't lie: 2012's "Skyfall," Craig's third outing as Bond, and first collaboration with the British director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), raked in $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the most commercially successful Bond film of all time. Craig's portrait of the top-secret British spy helped to revive the franchise, which, at the time, had been struggling to find a contemporary identity for 007 after Brosnan's thematically erratic series of films. Craig's last Bond film, "No Time To Die," hits US theaters on October 8. Early projections suggest the film could make a $90 million debut at the international box office, so by the end of his tenure, Craig might not just be the actor who saved the Bond franchise but also the actor who saved cinema. Ayomikun Adekaiyero contributed to this article. Read the original article on Business Insider
