George Lazenby Announces Acting Retirement 55 Years After Playing James Bond in ‘Secret Service’
George Lazenby has decided to retire from acting, 55 years after portraying James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He shared the news in an Instagram post on Wednesday, July 24.
“This hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s time to announce my retirement from work. Therefore, I won’t be doing any more acting or making public appearances, doing any more interviews or signing any more autographs as of today,” he wrote in the caption of the post. “It’s been a fun ride but getting older is no fun. I would like to thank my manager and friend, Anders Frejdh, for helping me since 2013 - the best representative I ever had. I can now concentrate on spending more time with my family. My sincere gratitude to everyone out there for your love and support over the years. It has meant a lot to me.”
George, 84, was famously chosen to play Bond when he was virtually unknown as an actor. Initially, the Australia-born star was a model who appeared in commercials before he crossed paths with producer Albert R. Broccoli. His life changed in 1969 when On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released.
However, he had the shortest tenure out of all Bond actors because he only appeared in one film in the franchise. Years after making his Bond debut, George opened up about why he never appeared in another Bond film and it largely had to do with his manager.
“He was saying to me, 'What do we have to do to get you to sign? How about $1 million to go anywhere in the world?'" George told Daily Mail in November 2015 of producer Harry Saltzman’s pleas. “But my manager, Ronan O'Rahilly, wasn't keen. He said, ‘Don't do it. There's a guy called Clint Eastwood over in Italy making Westerns for $500,000 a time. You could do two of those instead.’ It was the late ‘60s — bell bottoms and long hair were in and Bond had short hair and wore a suit. We thought Bond was over. We were wrong.”
Prior to his turn at Bond, Sean Connery portrayed the figure in five films. “Sometimes I wish I'd done one more just to shut the people up who think I failed,” George confessed about his short stint as the popular film character.
George earned more than 60 acting credits throughout his career after Bond, including roles in General Hospital, Rituals, Superboy, The Pretender and more.
In March, he revealed who he would like to see play Bond next after Daniel Craig’s departure from the franchise. The Dance Angels actor backed Aaron Taylor-Johnson to take over as Bond, per TMZ.
So far, no official casting decisions have been announced about the next installment in the fillm franchise. However, former Bond Pierce Brosnan nominated Cillian Murphy for the role.
“Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty’s Secret Service,” he told the BBC at the Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles in March.
