Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Llewelyn in Sweden to promote Octopussy.
Birth name	Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn
Born	September 12, 1913 Newport, Wales
Died	December 19, 1999 Firle, East Sussex, England
Years active	1950-1999
Notable roles	Q in the James Bond series.

Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (September 12, 1913 – December 19, 1999) was a Welsh actor, famous for playing the fictional character of Q in the James Bond series of films. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (768x1024, 192 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Desmond Llewelyn Q (James Bond) ... Octopussy is the thirteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Wales. ... For other uses, see Newport (disambiguation). ... Motto: (Welsh for Wales forever) Anthem: (Welsh for Land of My Fathers) Capital Cardiff (Caerdydd) Largest city Cardiff (Caerdydd) Official language(s) Welsh, English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... See the main Firle Wiki page West_Firle Firle is one of the civil parishes in the Lewes District of East Sussex,England. ... East Sussex is a county in South East England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, who wrote several novels and short stories featuring the character. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Motto: (Welsh for Wales forever) Anthem: (Welsh for Land of My Fathers) Capital Cardiff (Caerdydd) Largest city Cardiff (Caerdydd) Official language(s) Welsh, English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, who wrote several novels and short stories featuring the character. ...

Early life and career

Born in Newport, Wales in 1913, Llewelyn was the son of a coal mining engineer. He originally wanted to be a minister but during his education at Radley College he worked as a stagehand in the school's productions and then picked up sporadic small parts. For other uses, see Newport (disambiguation). ... Motto: (Welsh for Wales forever) Anthem: (Welsh for Land of My Fathers) Capital Cardiff (Caerdydd) Largest city Cardiff (Caerdydd) Official language(s) Welsh, English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Radley College, Mansion Radley College (St. ...

The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 halted his acting career, and Llewelyn was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British army, serving with the Royal Welch Fusiliers. In 1940, he was captured by the German army in France, and was held as a POW for five years. During this period he appeared in a number of theatrical productions as well as taking part in attempted escape activities. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Welch Fusiliers was a regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales Division. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

Since 1963's From Russia with Love, Llewelyn appeared as Q (the quartermaster of the MI6 gadget lab known as Q-branch) in every James Bond film, except Live and Let Die (1973), until The World Is Not Enough (1999). He had originally been chosen for the role as he had previously worked with the director Terence Young on the 1950 war film They Were Not Divided. In the 2002 film Die Another Day, John Cleese, who played the character R, the assistant to Q in The World Is Not Enough, was promoted to the head of Q-branch, thus taking on the title of Q. In all, Llewelyn appeared in 17 Bond films, more than any other actor, and worked with five "different" James Bonds. // Events January 28 - Filming begins on Dr. Strangelove. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition From Russia with Love, is the second James Bond film in the official EON Productions series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the suave and sophisticated British Secret Service agent James Bond. ... Quartermaster is a term usually referring to a military unit which specializes in supplying and provisioning troops, or to an individual who does the same. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... An Apple iPod, a popular gadget A gadget or gazza is a device that has a useful specific practical purpose and function. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, who wrote several novels and short stories featuring the character. ... Ian Flemings Live and Let Die is the eighth official film in the EON Productions Bond franchise and the first to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. ... // Events The Marx Brothers Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. ... The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth official James Bond film made by EON Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Flemings secret agent, James Bond. ... This is a list of film-related events in 1999. ... Terence Young in the 1960s Stewart Terence Herbert Young (June 20, 1915 – September 7, 1994) was a British film director, born in Shanghai, China, was public-school educated, and read Oriental History at St Catharines College in the University of Cambridge (like the fictional character James Bond - see below). ... See also: 1949 in film 1950 1951 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events February 15 - Walt Disney Studios animated film Cinderella debuts. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2002. ... Die Another Day is the twentieth James Bond film made by EON Productions and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Flemings James Bond. ... John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English comedian and actor best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for co-writing the TV series Fawlty Towers in which he played Basil Fawlty. ... Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. ...

Llewelyn appeared in other films such as the 1981 PBS production of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde and also a small appearance in the famous musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and in the Ealing comedy The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). He acted on stage and appeared in the British television series Follyfoot - his commitments filming that series were the reason why he did not appear in Live and Let Die. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 feature film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, based on Ian Flemings book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Ealing Studios, a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London, claims to be the oldest film studio in the world. ... The Lavender Hill Mob is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios which tells the story of a mild-mannered bank clerk who masterminds the robbery of his bank. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Follyfoot was a television series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV between 1971 and 1973, repeated for a couple of years after that and again in the late 1980s. ... Ian Flemings Live and Let Die is the eighth official film in the EON Productions Bond franchise and the first to star Roger Moore as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. ...

Death

Llewelyn was killed in a road accident on December 19, 1999 after returning home from a friends house. His Renault Megane car collided head-on with another on the A27 road near the village of Berwick, East Sussex. He died shortly afterwards. He was 85. Roger Moore spoke at his funeral. December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Renault Mégane is a compact automobile made by Renault. ... The A27 near Southwick The A27 is a major road in England. ... Berwick (pronounced BURwick) is a village and civil parish the Wealden district of East Sussex in England, immediately to the south of the A27 road between Lewes and Eastbourne, near the River Cuckmere. ... For other persons named Roger Moore, see Roger Moore (disambiguation). ...

Trivia

• Llewelyn's final Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, had been released only a few weeks before his death, and in his final scene in the picture he is shown being lowered into the ground beside a BMW Z8 at the Scotland headquarters while saying the line, "Always have an escape plan". Although the film had alluded to Q's retirement (though not stated that it was imminent) and introduced John Cleese's character as heir presumptive, Llewelyn had stated not long before his death that he had no plans to retire and that he would continue playing Q "as long as the producers want me and the Almighty doesn't."^[1]

• In an interview well after his death, Llewelyn stated that of all the actors to have portrayed James Bond, he felt that Timothy Dalton's performance was the closest to the way Bond was portrayed in the original novels.^{[citation needed]}

• Contrary to his gadget-expert character in the Bond films, Llewelyn always maintained that he was totally lost in the world of technology.

Black BMW Z8 The BMW Z8 was a car produced by German automaker BMW from 2000 to 2003. ... John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English comedian and actor best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for co-writing the TV series Fawlty Towers in which he played Basil Fawlty. ... An Heir Presumptive (capitalised) is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honor, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an Heir Apparent or of a new Heir Presumptive with a better claim to the throne. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond 007 is a fictional British agent[1] created in 1952 by writer Ian Fleming, who wrote several novels and short stories featuring the character. ... Timothy Peter Dalton (born March 21, 1944) is a British actor of stage and screen, best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989). ...

Reference

1. ^ From an interview on the DVD of The World Is Not Enough.

The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth official James Bond film made by EON Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Flemings secret agent, James Bond. ...

External links

• Obituary at Salon.com
• Desmond Llewelyn fan page
• Desmond Llewelyn at the Internet Movie Database