Steve Reeves offered Bond

[commander0077again]

Have been discussing the Hercules star Steve Reeves with a new buddy who was into bodybuilding, and tonight find that Reeves was offered the part of Clint Eastwood's character in Fistfull of Dollars. He turned it down because he thought 'the Italians couldn't make Westerns'; he was offered Bond role in Dr. No but turned that down because his salary would be $100,000 when he was making $250,000, and 'the highest paid actor in Europe' at the time along with Sophia Loren. The Eastwood story is fairly set in stone, I'm not 100% certain about the Bond offer. This is the first time I've hear of that; always have heard that actors like David Niven were first-pick.

By the way, also note that Peter Maiva, bad guy in YOLT was the uncredited fight coordinator for the Osato office fight. His stats are listed as 5'9" 280 pounds.

[Daltonite Toothpaste]

This is the first I've heard about this. Like you, I had always heard that actors like Niven, Burton & Grant were considered or offered the Bond role in Dr No.

[John P. Drake]

I like Steve Reeves. But, he's no Bond. Anybody heard Cubby offering Adam West the Bond part?

[Daltonite Toothpaste]

I like Steve Reeves. But, he's no Bond. Anybody heard Cubby offering Adam West the Bond part?

About the time of Diamonds Are Forever, wasn't it? Cubby was seriously considering an American for Bond. He even offered it to The Mustachioed One, Burt Reynolds. Reynolds turned the part down on the grounds that it should be played by a British actor.

[John P. Drake]

I like Steve Reeves. But, he's no Bond. Anybody heard Cubby offering Adam West the Bond part?

About the time of Diamonds Are Forever, wasn't it? Cubby was seriously considering an American for Bond. He even offered it to The Mustachioed One, Burt Reynolds. Reynolds turned the part down on the grounds that it should be played by a British actor.

I believe it was by the time On Her Majesty's Secret Service was in pre-production. Imagine if Reynolds got the role, then the franchise would have said hello to Smokey and Bandit, just with some spy gadgets in it and rough humour. I'm saying this as a proud American, and as a Bond fan, that no American should play the role of Bond. Otherwise, the tradition will be broken. At least that's what's remaining still in the trademark.

[commander0077again]

Several sources (inlcuding Wiki) seem to infer that Reeves was offered Bond at the very beginning. I saw him in a later film where he was slimmed down. Physically, he could have played Bond if he had lost some of his bulk. Remember, Connery had been a bodybuilder, and one can see slimmed down 'lats' in Thunderball. I don't know about Reeves acting, but who knows? If true, I suppose Brocolli and Saltzman saw something there, and they had uncanny instincts. As for being American, I think Barry Nelsen was an American, wasn't he? I've always assumed that the two producers, one Canadian, one American, wanted a Bond with a 'mid-Atlantic' accent, which most of the Bonds have had. In the books, there is always something 'foreign' about Bond when he's in England.