Female James Bond idea was discussed before ‘Dr No’ was made
nme.comJames Bond was pitched before 1962’s Dr. No was made, according to a new book.Lashana Lynch became the first woman in the long-running franchise to be given a 007 title in the last Bond outing, No Time To Die, but a woman hasn’t yet taken the titular lead singularly in the series.Now, in Nicholas Shakespeare’s upcoming biography of Bond author Ian Fleming, Ian Fleming: The Complete Man, it’s revealed that the idea of having a female Bond was first pitched over 60 years ago (via Variety).The book claims that producer Gregory Ratoff suggested the idea of casting five-time Oscar nominee Susan Hayward in a film adaptation of Fleming’s first Bond novel Casino Royale.
In the book, Hayward writes (via IndieWire): “Since the mid-1950s, many well-known actors had been approached [to play Bond].“Gregory Ratoff had the arresting idea of having Bond played by a woman, Susan Hayward.
Ian had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly anglicise his accent’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).”Screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr.
also noted this to Variety back in 2012 and claimed that Ratoff was interested in Hayward because “frankly, we thought [Bond] was kind of unbelievable and as I recall, even kind of stupid.
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