Bond's vexing villains
Eric Volmers, Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008

Say what you will about Daniel Craig's icy take on James Bond, but of all the actors who have been licensed to kill over the years he probably came to the role with the most accomplished acting chops. If Roger Moore, Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan were able to cruise on charm, Craig has been able to mine the dark soul of the super spy as an actors' actor. So, in fact, are many of the gifted thespians who have played Mr. Bond's nemeses over the years. The trend continues in Quantum of Solace with Mathieu Amalric, a multiple award-winning French actor best known in these parts for his lead role in Diving Bell and the Butterfly, playing 007'smain foe. Here is a list of other accomplished actors who camped it up as cartoonish villains to make Bond's life difficult.

Casino Royale (1967)
Villain: Le Chiffre
Villain type: Bloated banker
Credentials: Granted this was a spoof and Welles appears in it only briefly, but the actor was no doubt able to trade in on his weighty history as cinema's greatest hero-villain Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane.

You Only Live Twice (1967)
Villain: Ernst Stavro Blofeld (role also played by Telly Savalas and Charles gray.)
Villain type: Head of a global criminal organization
Credentials: Pleasence did a lot of B-movies, but was also a war hero, classically trained theatre actor and played Michael Myers' persistent pursuer, Dr. Sam Loomis, in classic horror film Halloween.

Live and Let Die (1973)
Villain: Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big
Villain type: Island dictator and drug dealer
Credentials: A Broadway star and former member of New York's prestigious actor's Studio, Kotto is perhaps best known for his role in the acclaimed TV cop drama Homicide; Life on the Street.

For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Villain: Aristotle Kristatos
Villain type: Double agent, drug smuggler
Credentials: Trained in the National Youth Theatre and a member of the royal Shakespeare Company, Glover is still a respected and in-demand stage actor in england.

Goldeneye (1995)
Villain: Alec Trevelyan
Villain type: Traitorous double agent
Credentials: A student at the royal academy of dramatic art, Bean is a dramatic actor who has played villains and heroes, most notably the heroic Boromir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

A View to a Kill (1985)
Villain: Max Zorin
Villain type: Evil industrialist and product of Nazi "super-baby" experiments.
Credentials: Veteran theatre actor, academy award winner and the funniest Saturday Night live host ever, Walken has given us decades of great characters.

The Living Daylights (1987)
Villain: General Georgi Koskov
Villain type: Corrupt russian general
Credentials: An accomplished painter, Krabbe was a well-respected actor in his home of Holland before he came to Hollywood to play a number of memorable villains.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Villain: Eliott Carver
Villain type: Head of a media empire.
Credentials: Multiple Tony award-winning actor is a respected stage and film performer, having played everything from Hamlet to Fagin to Sherlock Holmes and Juan Peron.

The World is Not Enough (1999)
Villain: Viktor Renard Zokas
Villain type: Terrorist
Credentials: A graduate of the royal Scottish academy of Music and drama, Carlyle can play nice (The Fully Monty) and nasty (Trainspotting, Hitler: The rise of evil) with equal aplomb. He plays one evil villain.

Die Another Day (2002)
Villain: Gustav Graves
Villain type: Arms dealer and diamond dealer
Credentials: The son of Maggie Smith, Stephens is a veteran award-winning stage actor in England.

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