Goldfinger and Oddjob are the quintessential mastermind/henchman in the Bond canon. Memorably played by German actor Gert Fröbe and weightlifter-wrestler turned actor Harold Sakata respectively, the pair deliver the textbook mixture of brains and brawn that often outwit and outmuscle James Bond. Here’s how they push 007 to the limit…

GOLDFINGER

Bond might quip that Auric Goldfinger sounds like a “French nail varnish” but the British businessman is a man of many talents; bullion dealer, licenced jeweller and smuggler. One of the richest men in the world, Goldfinger lives an exotic lifestyle, owning a golf course in Kent, a stud farm in Kentucky and a factory in Switzerland, moving between his operations in a private jet flown by his personal pilot Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). 

Yet behind his ostentatious but legitimate front, Goldfinger uses his connections with high society to smuggle gold out of the UK on a huge scale. This is achieved by melting down gold and hiding it in his Rolls-Royce Phantom III — number plate AUI — that allows the smuggler to move the bullion around undetected. 

Yet all this is prelude to a bigger plan that would see him control the world’s gold supply. As Goldfinger himself puts it: “Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He has fired rockets to the moon. Split the atom. Achieved miracles in every field of human endeavour… except crime!”

Bond first encounters Goldfinger cheating, firstly at gin rummy in a Miami hotel and then at golf on his private course. Bond manages to disrupt his ruse on both occasions — the golf game sees 007 engage in his own duplicity by switching golf balls — but not without raising the criminal mastermind’s ire.

The game-playing soon transforms into a more psychological sport of cat and mouse. After Bond is captured spying in Goldfinger’s Geneva factory, the crime mastermind straps him onto a table and activates an industrial laser.

The scenario quickly becomes a battle of wits, as thinking fast, Bond hints at his knowledge of Operation Grand Slam — a phrase he overheard randomly in the factory — suggesting he will be missed if he doesn’t report for duty. Not wishing to have his grand scheme stymied, Goldfinger spares Bond’s life, but it is perhaps the closest 007 has ever come to being outmanoeuvred.

Flying to Kentucky, Goldfinger reveals his master plan to both his criminal investors (whom he later kills) and Bond. Operation Grand Slam involves irradiating the billions in gold reserves at Fort Knox with a Chinese-made atomic bomb, rendering the stockpile unusable and therefore increasing the value of his own gold tenfold. He will gain entry to the secure facility by dropping nerve gas over the base, distributed by Pussy Galore and her flying circus, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the surrounding area. Even Bond can’t help marvel at the audacity of the plan.

After Bond foils Operation Grand Slam and is invited to meet the US President, Goldfinger infiltrates the private jet, sets a course for Cuba and surprises 007 in the cabin with a revolver. Bond makes a grab for the gun and the two men scuffle, the revolver going off and blowing out of the window. Goldfinger is sucked out of the depressurised cabin. When Pussy Galore asks where her former boss is, Bond drily quips, “Playing his golden harp.”

ODDJOB

A one-man army, Oddjob is Goldfinger’s manservant who performs a number of functions for the criminal mastermind; valet, driver, golf caddy, henchman and bodyguard. A mute, Oddjob is loyal to a fault and will stop at nothing to carry out his boss’s demands. Stocky, strong and perma-suited, he is a seemingly indestructible force, his major weapon a steel-brimmed hat that can cut through anything from stone to metal.

As a henchman, he is ruthless, knocking Bond unconscious in his Miami hotel suite for revealing Goldfinger’s cheating, and killing Goldfinger’s disloyal assistant Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) by covering her body in gold paint, causing her to die through skin suffocation. 

As a golf caddy, Oddjob is without scruples — after Goldfinger plants a shot into the rough, Oddjob surreptitiously drops a duplicate ball from his trouser leg —and underlines his master’s threat and power by flinging his steel-brimmed hat and decapitating a statue which he later uses to kill Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet), out for revenge for her sister. As Bond hands back Goldfinger’s ball, Oddjob effortlessly crushes it with one hand.

After the action switches to Kentucky, Oddjob displays no remorse in shooting a gangster (Martin Benson) who has deserted Goldfinger and then disposing of his body by crushing the car into a metal cube at a junkyard. 

When Operation Grand Slam starts to go awry, Oddjob shows unswerving loyalty to his boss, even after Goldfinger has locked him in the vault with Bond and the nuclear bomb, facing certain death. In a showdown, Oddjob proves to be an immovable force, Bond hitting him with blocks of wood and gold ingots to little effect, Oddjob throwing 007 around the vault with abandon.

In the heat of battle, Oddjob puts his hand on the steel rim of his hat nestled between two bars, after Bond has thrown and missed. Acting quickly, 007 slides along the shiny floor and grabs a severed electrical cable, places it on the bar and electrocutes the henchman in a shower of sparks. As 007 once said, positively shocking.

Born on 25 August 1930, Sean Connery became the first James Bond on film in Dr.No, a portrayal of Ian Fleming’s hero that is by turns gritty and witty. From his prowess at physical acting to his facility with sharp wit, Connery could do it all. To mark the 95th anniversary of his birth, here are iconic moments pulled from his six Eon 007 adventures that define his interpretation of the role.

THE COLD KILLER

As seen in: Dr. No (1962)

Bond waits in the dark for the arrival of Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson), a geologist at the pay of Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), at the apartment of Miss Taro (Zena Marshall). Dent opens the door and unleashes six shots at the bed, pillows hidden under the sheets providing a decoy for the sleeping Bond. 007 reveals himself as sitting in a chair behind Dent, imploring him to drop the gun and sit down on the bed. As Bond begins an interrogation, Dent surreptitiously edges the gun on the floor towards him and tries to shoot his captor with an empty pistol. “That’s a Smith & Wesson, and you’ve had your six,” says Bond and quickly dispatches Dent before unscrewing, then calmly blowing through the silencer. 007 has rarely been this cold and clinical.

Also see: Goldfinger. Bond electrocutes an assassin by throwing him in a bath and throwing in a nearby electric-powered table fan.

THE MAN OF ACTION

As seen in: From Russia With Love (1963)

Bond has rarely faced a more imposing opponent than Red Grant (Robert Shaw). The SPECTRE assassin is held hostage on a speeding Orient Express. When Grant denies the condemned man a last cigarette, Bond offers him 50 gold sovereigns for the privilege. Looking for more coins, Grant opens another Q-dept attaché case but gets greeted with an unexpected hit of tear gas. What follows is a mano a mano bust-up — played out in the dark after Grant shoots out the light bulbs — with Bond relying on brute strength to see off the threat from Grant, eventually turning the garrote wire from Grant’s wristwatch against his attacker. Winning a brutal battle in a confined space, it’s the perfect example of Connery’s physical agility and depiction of mental fortitude in the heat of battle.

Also see: You Only Live Twice. In the offices of Osato Chemicals, Bond has a heavy, bruising encounter that involves a long couch, an idol and a samurai sword.

THE QUICK THINKER

As seen in: Goldfinger (1964)

After infiltrating Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe)’s facility in Switzerland, Bond is captured and strapped to a table, with a large industrial laser heading slowly, inexorably toward his crotch. It looks like the end for 007, a rare display of the secret agent’s fear and discomfort. Yet, quickly thinking on his feet — or his back — Bond starts to get under Goldfinger’s skin, convincing him that, if he’s killed, 008 will follow him and that he knows all about ‘Operation Grand Slam’, a phrase he has overheard but does not know the meaning of. Goldfinger spares his life, but only through perhaps the biggest bluff of Bond’s career.

Also see: Dr. No. Trying to escape Dr. No’s guards, Bond improvises three snorkels out of hollow bamboo reeds, allowing Honey (Ursula Andress), Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) and 007 to breathe underwater.

THE FAST WIT

As seen in: Thunderball (1965)

After an amorous underwater adventure, Bond and Domino (Claudine Auger) retire to the beach. As the pair discuss the role of Spectre No.2 Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) in the death of Domino’s brother, Largo’s lackey Vargas (Philip Locke) sneaks up on with them, pistol in hand. Without missing a beat, Bond snaps into action and dispatches the assailant with a harpoon, quipping, “I think he got the point.” Connery’s throwaway delivery is pure genius.

Also see: Diamonds Are Forever. After concealing diamonds in the dead body of Peter Franks’ (Joe Robinson) body, Bond tells Felix (Norman Burton), “Alimentary Doctor Leiter.”

A MAN OF THE WORLD

As seen in: You Only Live Twice (1967)

Connery’s poise and intelligence make 007 a cosmopolitan sophisticate. Riding Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba)’s underground train, 007 is given the choice between his favoured Vodka Martini (shaken, not stirred obviously) and sake. The worldly-wise Bond, who we learn took a first in Oriental languages at Cambridge, says he likes sake, especially when it is served at the correct room temperature of 98.4° Fahrenheit.

Also see: Goldfinger. Here Bond reveals his extensive knowledge of champagne (never drink Dom Perignon ’53 above room temperature) and brandy (he identifies a “35 year old fine, indifferently blended… with an overdose of bon bois.”)

THE COOLEST CUSTOMER

As seen in: Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Telling Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) he is just popping out, Bond steps out of the window of his hotel suite, strolls along the balcony, stops to sniff his carnation and hitches a ride on the outside elevator of high-rise hotel The Whyte House. Full of élan and effortless cool.

Also see: Dr. No. “Bond. James Bond.” With Bond’s introduction at La Cercle casino at London’s Les Ambassadeurs club, Connery establishes the character from the get-go, clearly his own man, suave and cocksure.

For The Living Daylights, producers Cubby Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided they needed a fresh approach — and a new 007. 

With Roger Moore deciding to step away from the role after A View To A Kill — his seventh film over a 12 year period — the team including Broccoli, Wilson, associate producer Barbara Broccoli and director John Glen, faced the daunting task of finding the new lead for the 15th James Bond film.

“Over the years, many people were tested for Bonds,” said EON publicity and marketing director Jerry Juroe. “There was always a game between Roger and Cubby when the renewal of each picture came up. They would test the most unbelievable people. But eventually Roger said, ‘No more’ and we really had to find someone.”

Casting for the new 007 started in earnest in January 1986. Barbara Broccoli was dispatched to Australia to explore the emergence of young acting talent down under. Broccoli returned with audition tapes of a dozen actors, a couple of which were tested for Bond including model Finlay Light. 

Interviews and auditions continued in London. Head of United Artists Jerry Weintraub wanted Broccoli to consider a young Mel Gibson but the producer had no desire to cast the actor. The search ultimately became a global one; actors tested included New Zealander Sam Neill, Brits Michael Praed and Mark Greenstreet, Australian James Healey and Frenchman Lambert Wilson, who shot a test with actor Maryam d’Abo on April 24 and on the following day, a fight stunt sequence with stunt arranger Vic Armstrong. 

“By this point Ladbrokes, Britain’s leading book-makers, were taking bets on who would play the next James Bond,” remembered Cubby Broccoli. “I favoured Lambert but Michael didn’t. Sam Neill impressed Michael, Barbara, and John, whereas I had my reservations. Ladbrokes had him as a clear favourite”

On May 12, Pierce Brosnan, then the star of the hit TV show Remington Steele, auditioned opposite Annie Lambert, followed by stunt work with Clive Curtis. However, when Brosnan’s contract was renewed by NBC, making him unavailable for Bond, it left the filmmakers in a bind and encouraged them to follow their instincts and look for an actor with a harder edge.

At this point, the team reconsidered an actor who had been on their list of candidates nearly 20 years previously. Having graduated from RADA and working in both TV and film, Timothy Dalton made his film debut as Phillip II of France in The Lion In Winter opposite Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The actor, then in his mid-20s, had his reservations.

“In 1968, about the time Sean Connery was looking to relinquish the Bond role, Cubby asked me if I’d be interested in doing James Bond,” recalled Dalton. “It seemed the daftest idea in the world. I was only about 25 years old, and Bond should be in his mid-30s—at least.”

After Moonraker in 1980, Broccoli returned to Dalton when it looked like Roger Moore would exit the series. Yet once again, the actor turned him down, Broccoli reporting that “Timothy said the part intimidated him.” When the producers courted Dalton for the third time for The Living Daylights, the actor felt more suitable for the role. 

“When we met Timothy in 1986, we saw that during these intervening years he had added poise, experience, and self-assurance,” said Cubby Broccoli. “He was excited by the idea. He saw Bond as being more serious, just as ballsy as Connery’s 007, but carrying his own personal imprint. He wanted to play the character closer to the way Fleming wrote it—which was fine with me.”

Scheduling conflicts nearly scuppered Dalton’s chance to play the role but The Living Daylights shifting production dates allowed the actor to take the role. Initially, he refused to screen test, believing his track record as an actor spoke for itself, but the producers wanted to put him on film to gauge his qualities as 007. He tested opposite actor Annie Lambert and stunt performers Paul Weston and Clive Curtis, playing a love scene and action set-piece from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. 

With Dalton signing on the dotted line, the team and actor were united in the decision to return to the spirit of Ian Fleming. In preparation, Dalton re-read all the Fleming novels to immerse himself deeply in the character.

“For me, he clearly lives in the moment,” said Dalton about Bond. “He’s always on the edge of his own death, everything is heightened.”

“Timothy wasn’t as light as Roger — he was hard, closer to Connery,” said John Glen. “This was important to us, as we were taking the series in a different direction.”

Introduced in Casino Royale (2006), Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) works for the Financial Action Task Force of Her Majesty’s Treasury. She is charged with supervising the British government funds to bankroll 007 (Daniel Craig) in a high-stakes game of Texas hold ’em poker at Casino Royale against Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker who finances international terrorism. Intelligent and perceptive, her relationship with Bond gets off to a flirtatious start but later develops into something much deeper. 

Vesper first encounters Bond in a dining carriage on a train to Montenegro. The pair trade barbs and insights, with Vesper’s sharp mind and quick wit matching Bond beat for beat.

James Bond: Well, your beauty’s a problem. You worry you won’t be taken seriously.

Vesper Lynd: Which one can say of any attractive woman with half a brain.

When they arrive at Casino Royale, Vesper is initially reluctant to pose as Bond’s trophy girlfriend and refuses to bankroll him further when he runs out of money. She does come to his aid during a fight with Ugandan warlord Steven Obanno (Isaach de Bankolé) — she knocks Bond’s Walther PPK from Obanno’s hand — but the tussle leaves her visibly shaken, Bond consoling her in their hotel room shower, both of them fully clothed.

After Bond re-joins the game, Vesper once again saves his life after Bond is poisoned by Le Chiffre’s girlfriend Valenka (Ivana Miličević). As he struggles to operate an automatic external defibrillator stashed in his Aston Martin DBS, she arrives in the nick of time to connect a key wire, saving the day as the machine brings him back to life.

After Bond wins the poker tournament, Vesper is kidnapped by Le Chiffre and left for dead, tied up in the middle of the road. Giving chase, Bond swerves at the last moment to save running into her. Both are captured by Le Chiffre but rescued by Quantum operative Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), who kills Le Chiffre for squandering the organisation’s funds. 

Bond and Vesper admit their feelings for each other. They sail to Venice on holiday, Bond resigning from MI6 and looking to start a new life with Vesper until he realises he has been double-crossed. Vesper withdraws the Casino Royale winnings and hands the money over to Adolph Gettler (Richard Sammel).  

As Bond arrives, Gettler throws Vesper into a caged elevator. A melee ensues, causing the building to sink and flood. Vesper apologises to Bond, locking herself into the lift as it starts to sink underwater. Bond tries to save her, finally extricating her from the elevator, but his attempts at CPR are too late.

As a final declaration of her feelings for Bond, Vesper leaves her phone for 007 to discover, giving him Mr. White’s contact details, a vital clue in bringing down Quantum.

Even after her death, Vesper continues to reverberate around Bond’s story. In Quantum Of Solace (2008), Bond is seeking revenge for Vesper’s death — although he assures M to the contrary — and keeps her photograph with him. He later learns that Vesper was coerced into betraying him by Quantum, who kidnapped her boyfriend, Yusef Kabira (Simon Kassianides). It is later revealed Yusef worked for Quantum seducing high-ranking women in government agencies. When 007 confronts Yusef, he spares his life, leaving him to MI6, acknowledging to M she was right about Vesper all along. As an act of letting go, Bond drops Vesper’s necklace in the snow.

In Spectre (2015), when Bond and Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) arrive at the L’American Hotel in Tangier, 007 discovers in the hotel room a tape titled ‘Vesper Lynd — Interrogation’ conducted by Mr. White. Later, Bond and Madeleine are captured by SPECTRE leader Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), who needles Madeleine with talk about Bond’s love for Vesper as a means of driving a wedge between them. Blofeld revels in the idea that SPECTRE manipulated Vesper into thinking Bond would never believe her, forcing her to take her own life.

Now in a relationship at the start of No Time To Die (2021), Bond and Madeleine travel to Italy after defeating Blofeld, writing their deepest secrets on a piece of paper. The following morning, Bond visits Vesper’s grave simply saying “I miss you”. Taking a moment, Bond burns the piece of paper — it says ‘Forgive Me’ — but the tomb is a trap laid by SPECTRE, and a bomb causes an explosion that knocks Bond off his feet. 

Felix Leiter’s on-screen life is as long as 007’s, appearing in the very first film, Dr. No. (1962). Played by Jack Lord, Felix is a man of mystery, sporting sunglasses when tailing 007 (Sean Connery) upon his arrival at Kingston Airport. After Bond is jumped in a bar by Jamaican fisherman Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) and the bar owner, Leiter holds Bond at gunpoint, announcing his CIA credentials and revealing Quarrel as a fellow agent. Later, Leiter assists Bond with his mission, helping him and Honey Ryder following their escape from Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman)’s hideout. 

Leiter returned in Goldfinger (1964), now played by Cec Linder. He is the first to point out Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) at Bond’s hotel in Miami, and later plays a crucial role in foiling the attack on Fort Knox. In Thunderball (1965) Leiter (Rik Van Nutter) rescues Bond from an underwater cave and calls in the US Navy to battle Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi)’s frogmen.

Played with a lighter, more exasperated touch by Norman Burton in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Leiter helps Bond infiltrate a diamond smuggling ring. Leiter saves Bond’s life by swapping real diamonds for fake ones and does significant work investigating American billionaire Willard Whyte (Jimmy Dean). He also launches the helicopter attack that destroys Blofeld’s (Charles Gray) base on an oil rig.

With a new Bond, Roger Moore, came a new Felix. David Hedison, an old friend of Moore’s, played the character in Live And Let Die (1973). Investigating Harlem drug dealer Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), Leiter takes Bond to the Fillet of Soul restaurant, a front for Big’s drugs racket, and smooths things over with the Louisiana police after 007 causes carnage with a speedboat. He later plays a key part in the destruction of Big’s heroin operation.

After John Terry played the character in The Living Daylights (1987), Hedison returned to the role in Licence To Kill (1989), this time playing opposite Timothy Dalton. Rather than assisting Bond, Leiter becomes the catalyst for the plot, after his wife Della (Priscilla Barnes) is killed by drug dealer Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) on their wedding day, causing 007 to seek revenge. Sanchez tortures Leiter by lowering him into a shark tank and leaving him to die. Fittingly, Bond sets fire to Sanchez with Leiter’s best man present — an engraved cigarette lighter.

Leiter did not appear at all during Pierce Brosnan’s era but returned in Casino Royale (2006), played by Jeffrey Wright. Leiter first meets Bond (Daniel Craig) at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. After 007 has lost the funding of treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) to stay in the high-stakes poker game, Leiter gifts Bond $5 million to buy back in. The catch is the CIA will get to bring in Bond’s target Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) once Bond has won the game. 

In Quantum Of Solace (2008), Leiter works with CIA colleague Gregg Beam (David Harbour) to obtain American oil rights in Bolivia from exiled General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio). The corrupt Beam, working in cahoots with Quantum’s Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), arranges for Bond to be killed but Felix warns 007 with seconds to spare, allowing Bond to escape.

In No Time To Die (2021), Felix, working with partner Logan Ash (Billy Magnussen), lures Bond out of retirement to track down MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik) who had worked on Project Heracles, a deadly DNA weapon that spreads like a virus. Bond captures Obruchev in Cuba and brings him to Leiter and Ash on a boat, demanding to know who the scientist was working for. 

When it becomes clear that Obruchev is working for Ash, the latter pulls out a gun and shoots Leiter in the stomach, blowing the vessel up with a limpet mine. As the boat floods with water, Bond tries to haul Felix to safety. “It’s a good life,” says Felix. “The best,” retorts Bond. As the water rises, Felix slips away from a distraught Bond.

Bond later avenges Leiter’s death, crushing Ash to death with an upturned vehicle — after an injured Ash implores him “Why don’t you help me out, brother?” Bond simply replies, “I had a brother. His name was Felix Leiter.”