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James Bond's 'Q' Dies
Pzykotic writes "The great actor Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q in all but 2 Bond films died in a head-on car crash in England today at age 85. I loved that guy, he will be sorely missed." Here's the BBC story. 72 readers submitted this news before we got it posted, so obviously Mr. Llewelyn was a bit of a geek icon, eh? Update: 12/19 07:51 by CT : I just watched Thunderball last night. God he was cool.
...that they introduced his successor in the latest film.
He will be missed.
Here's a CNN article on it as well
"You should never have your best trousers on when you turn
"You should never have your best trousers on when you turn out to fight for freedom and truth."
-Henrik Ib
I remember him from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Here's a listing of what he did.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
Well, admittedly no one can truely replace Desmond as Q, but John Cleese will make a wonderful successor. He has the wit, and the sarcasm to deal with the childish antics of 007. Oh well, Desmond is up in heaven right now...I can almost hear him saying "Now pay attention God. this here is standard mark 4 universe complete with the usuall refinements. Stars, planets, pulsars...DON'T TOUCH THAT! That's a black hole creator"
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
Both howardpj and scudsucker are incorrect.
M was played consistantly by Bernard Lee from Dr. No through Moonraker (11 times); when Lee died in 1981, they filled in once (For Your Eyes Only) with a Minister of Defense (Geoffrey Keen), not an "M", then Robert Brown played M in Octopussy, View to a Kill, and Dalton's two (Living Daylights, License to Kill). Dame Judi Dench came aboard along with Brosnan (so she's been M less times than any one else who has been M, though she's been given more to do with the role than the others put together).
And Lois Maxwell, not Dench, was Moneypenny through all the Connery's and Moore's (and the Lazenby); Caroline Bliss was in Dalton's two, and Samantha Bond has been in Brosnan's three.
When in doubt, check with imdb. I did.
Mashed potatoes can be your friends!
It'll be interesting how the Bond series handles this. Desmond had previously stated that he wanted to do the part until he died, and had supposedly made remarks that if he died on-stage that it was to be used as footage if possible.
So will it just be that Q retires, or that something happens to him in the next film? Only time, and his family, will tell I guess.
It is of course possible that they filmed an ending scene for him already. Then of course there is all the technical trickery that can be done with computers and existing footage (some of which would probably be from the cutting room floor).
Of course, no one will ever truely replace Q, but it will be a sought after role for many actors. So who should be the next Q? Slashdot poll anyone?
Whatever happens, I think there should be some sort of dedication to him at the start of the next film, such as In the memory of Desmond Llewelyn, may he rest in peace.
This is *really* sad. Just today, in our local mall, I noticed that he was signing books tonight, so I guess that Mr. Llewellyn must have been on his way back from the signing when he crashed the car. I was going to go to the event, but ended up seeing the new Arnie flick with some friends instead. Now I know what I *should* have done. He'll be missed, that's for sure. :(
Chris.
Of course he matters to us. 'Q' is the geak of the Bond mythology. Monepeny is the "pretty but prudish" secretary ( a nice enough role model from a moral perspective, for young girls ) and Bond himself is a civilized "Conan". ( think about that last one. It'll come to you :).
Q will be surely missed. I will be wearing a black arm band to see "The world is not enough" in memory of him. If anyone else cares to pay his/her respects in this way go right ahead.
The whole Bond thing is woven into Jamaican culture since Ian Fleming lived here when he wrote the early stories. At least 2 of the movies were set here ( in part ). "James Bond" ( the name ) was the author of a book on Caribbean birds. Mr. Fleming stole his name because "It was the most boring name I could find". He was more than a little surprised when at the opening of one of the 1st 007 flicks Mr. Bond walked up to him and introduced himself just like the goy in the movie. Except with ID to prove it.
Q. Of course was a key character in all of this. Without him, there would be no way to know before hand what kind of arsenal 007 carried and that would just make his antics seam a little lame.
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
As others have said, Llewelyn was the constant in the series; everyone else has changed. I think the current M actress has had the part longer than any other, one Money Penny actress had a long run at it but there have been 3 different ones in the last four movies, and everbody knows how many different Bond actors we've had. Hell, Bond's friend in the CIA, Feilix Lighter (sp) even managed to change races between movies.
:-)
How fortunate (for the Bond fans anyway) that they set up Q's succession in The World Is Not Enough. Cleese is a good choice, not only because he's a good actor but because he wont try to be like Llewelyn's Q. He'll be geeky and techy, but it looks like he has a low opinion of Bond and I look forward to watching them quibble in furture movies.
I hope Cleese will be able to stay on as long as Llewelyn did, and I also hope the other actors (like the one that plays M) stick around for a long time. I think it adds a lot to a running series if you keep the same people or objects around, like Llewelyn as Q or the Tardis in Dr. Who. Now they just need to find some Sophia Loren type chick (one that still looks great in her 60's) at the age of 18 to play Money Penny.
Goodbye Desmond, thanks for helping to make Bond into what he his today. You will be missed as one of the great geek heroes of this century.
Although I'm indifferent, I do think there is some validity in the original posters argument. If 70 friends of mine and I get together and submit stories about who won the Superbowl, it doesn't mean /. should post it as news. I mean look at the physics involved in football, projectile motion, action/reaction forces, etc., etc. etc. The point the original commentor was making was the fact that as /.'s audience grows, its loosening its standards -- its integrity -- and coming up with extremely weak justifications (the mere fact that he attempted to justify is proof in itself of the merit of the story) for posting stories which really don't belong. Why you say is this happening? Why everything happens in our society? Money. Of course you can only prostitute yourself for so long. Prostitutes do loose their looks after a while, and no one wants to be with an ugly and old prostitute. As /. heads more towards the mainstream, its original audience -- the people who told their friends and reload 100 times a day -- are going to leave. Once there exodus is complete don't be surprised when slashdot looks more like zdnet.com than a geek/nerd/unix oriented site.. Of course at this point, they will just be another whore on the street, and eventually will be lost in the crowd... Going with the general ideas in my post and the fact that people don't like the truth, I expect this comment to be moderated into oblivion quite quickly. Moderators, don't let me down!
This is not true. See this article for further information.
I saw "The World is Not Enough" on Saturday, and when I saw Q's final scene I thought it was a little sad.
They'd just introduced his replacement which under other circumstances would have been OK, but Llewellyn was looking fragile with age (his speech had become rather slurred too). So much so that it was almost shocking to see him like that. It struck me even then that it was unlikely he'd live long enough to appear in another film.
As he descended through the trap door, his witty line about "always having an escape route" seemed like a half-hearted attempt to inject humour into a literally very morbid scene. which was really about a admission about something that was happening in real life.
Ironic indeed that an accident should claim him before natural causes. Of course it's not beyond credibility that his condition might have contributed to the accident in some way.
Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction
Let me die a youngman's death
not a clean & in between
the sheets holy water death
not a famous-last-words
peaceful out of breath death
When I'm 73
& in constant good tumour
may I be mown down at dawn
by a bright red sports car
on my way home
from an all night party
Or when I'm 91
with silver hair
& sitting in a barber's chair
may rival gangsters
with ham fisted tommy guns burst in
& give me a short back and insides
Or when I'm 104
& banned from the Cavern
may my mistress
catch me in bed with her daughter
& fearing for her son
cut me up into little pieces
& throw away every piece but one
Let me die a youngman's death
not a free from sin tiptoe in
candle wax and waning death
not a curtains drawn by angels borne
what a nice way to go death
(Roger McGough)
--
Xenu loves you!