Fleming portrayed Bond as a tall, athletic, handsome secret agent in his thirties or forties; he has several vices, including drinking, smoking, gambling, automobiles and womanising.

Following Connery's portrayal, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have assumed the role.

[2] One of the German documents cracked and read by the British was the Zimmermann Telegram, which was coded 0075,[3] and which was one of the factors that led to the US entering the war as an ally against the Central Powers.

[16] After Connery was chosen, director Terence Young took the actor to his tailor and hairdresser,[17] and introduced him to the high life, restaurants, casinos and women of London.

[20] Academic James Chapman observed that, for Dr. No, Connery's interpretation of the character, although not complete, showed the actor "should be credited with having established a new style of performance: a British screen hero in the manner of an American leading man".

[21] In his second film, From Russia with Love, Connery looked less nervous and edgy; he gave "a relaxed, wry performance of subtle wit and style".

[38][c] His performance received mixed reviews, with Raymond Benson considering that Connery "looks weary and bored ... he is overweight, slow-moving, and doesn't seem to be trying to create a credible character".

[41] Producer Jack Schwartzman moved ahead with a non-Eon Bond film in the early 1980s, following the controversy over the 1961 novel Thunderball[42] and the subsequent long legal battle;[43] the result was Never Say Never Again.

[45][46] David Robinson, reviewing the film for The Times, considered that "Connery ... is back, looking hardly a day older or thicker, and still outclassing every other exponent of the role, in the goodnatured throwaway with which he parries all the sex and violence on the way".

[63] Lazenby consolidated his claim during a screen test, when he accidentally punched a professional wrestler, who was acting as stunt coordinator, in the face, impressing Broccoli with his ability to display aggression.

[69] Derek Malcolm of The Guardian was dismissive of Lazenby's performance, saying that he "is not a good actor and though I never thought Sean Connery was all that stylish either, there are moments when one yearns for a little of his louche panache".

[75] Alexander Walker in the Evening Standard of London, said that, "The truth is that George Lazenby is almost as good a James Bond as the man whom he humorously referred to in this film as 'this never happened to the other fellow'?!.

[77] Feminist film critic Molly Haskell wrote an approving review in the Village Voice: "Lazenby ... seems more comfortable in a wet tuxedo than a dry martini, more at ease as a donnish genealogist than reading (or playing) Playboy magazine, and who actually dares to think that one woman who is his equal is better than a thousand part-time playmates".

[80] Ben Macintyre also observed that of all the Bonds, Lazenby's characterisation was closest to that of Fleming's original literary character envisioned in the 1950s era of spy novels.

[81] After considering Jeremy Brett, Michael Billington and Julian Glover,[82][83] the two producers finally turned to Roger Moore, whom they had previously discussed for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but who had been unavailable, and he was ultimately cast to play Bond in Live and Let Die.

[64][84] At the time Moore was an established television actor, known for his performances as Simon Templar in The Saint and Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders!, in both of which he played a "charming, debonair, international playboy".

[86] Film writer Andrew Spicer considered Roger Moore the most elegant and mannerly of the Bonds, with the voice and style of an English debonair country gentleman.

Reviewing Moonraker, she wrote "Roger Moore is dutiful and passive as Bond; his clothes are neatly pressed and he shows up for work, like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension".

Only in The Spy Who Loved Me, one of Kael's favourite Bond films, did she praise him describing him as self-effacing: "Moore gets the chance to look scared—an emotion that suits him and makes him more likable".

[72] A number of Moore's personal preferences were transferred into his characterisation of Bond: his taste for Cuban cigars and his wearing of safari suits were assigned to the character.

[113] When reviewing Licence to Kill, Iain Johnstone of The Sunday Times disagreed, declaring that "any vestiges of the gentleman spy ... by Ian Fleming" have now gone;[114] he went on to say that "this character is remarkably close both in deed and action to the eponymous hero of the new Batman film".

[115] Raymond Benson noted that Dalton "purposely played Bond as a ruthless and serious man with very little of the wit displayed by Connery, Lazenby or Moore",[116] and considered him "the most accurate and literal interpretation of the role ... ever seen on screen".

[117] Smith and Lavington observed that during Dalton's portrayal in Licence to Kill, Bond appeared "self-absorbed ... reckless, brutal, prone to nervous laughter and ... probably insane, or at least seriously disturbed.

[121] In contrast to the previous incarnations of the character, Smith and Lavington identified Dalton's humour as "brooding rather than flippant";[122] combined with his heavy smoking, they considered him "an effective leading man".

[127] Edward P. Comentale observed that "Dalton, for all his occasional flat northern vowels, was probably too much the stage actor to be convincing as an action hero in the age of Willis, Schwarzenegger and Stallone".

[133] Brosnan was seen by many as the quintessential James Bond in appearance and manner; displaying an air of coolness, elegance and a grace which made him believable as an international playboy, if not purely as an assassin.

[148] Craig, unlike previous actors, was not considered by the protesters to fit the tall, dark, handsome and charismatic image of Bond to which viewers had been accustomed.

[149] Many disparagingly called him "James Blonde", believing the 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) blond-haired, blue-eyed Craig far from the traditional tall, dark and suave actors who had earlier portrayed him.

[152] Despite the negative press on his appointment, Craig was widely praised by critics and former Bonds after the release of the film, many of whom believed he was the first actor to truly nail the character as portrayed by Fleming.

Reviewing the film, Philip French, writing in The Observer, considered that Craig managed to "get out of the shadow of Connery",[157] while the New Statesman thought that he had "relaxed into Bond without losing any steeliness".