1. George Robert Lazenby is an Australian retired actor.
43 Facts About George Lazenby
1. 2.
In 2024, George Lazenby retired from acting, citing both his age and his desire to spend more time with his family.
3.
George Lazenby attended Goulburn Public School in his primary years and Goulburn High School until 1954.
4.
When George Lazenby was about 14, he moved with his family from Goulburn to Queanbeyan, where his father ran a store.
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George Lazenby served in the Australian Army, then afterwards worked as a car salesman and mechanic.
6.
George Lazenby moved to London in 1963 to pursue a woman with whom he had fallen in love.
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George Lazenby became a car salesman in Finchley, where he was spotted by a talent scout who persuaded him to become a model.
8.
George Lazenby was widely known for appearing in an advertisement for Fry's chocolate bars.
9.
Director Peter R Hunt felt that just because Lazenby starred in the movie, it did not make him an actor.
10.
In July 1969, after making On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby returned home to Queanbeyan to see his parents.
11.
George Lazenby said he had 18 films to consider, but most of them were bad, adding that he had to "wait and see".
12.
George Lazenby was offered the chance to portray Bond on film again, in The Man with the Golden Gun.
13.
However, prior to the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby decided to leave the role of Bond after his agent, Ronan O'Rahilly, convinced him that the secret agent would be archaic in the liberated 1970s.
14.
George Lazenby felt that he had received poor treatment on the film set.
15.
Several of his co-stars felt that George Lazenby had made a mistake, including Diana Rigg and Desmond Llewelyn.
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George Lazenby acknowledged the worry but insisted that he had made the correct decision.
17.
At the time of the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby's performance received mixed reviews.
18.
Broccoli publicly defended George Lazenby's performance, saying that while he was not the best actor, he was still great for the role of Bond.
19.
George Lazenby did admit that he found Lazenby's post-movie attitude annoying, feeling that he did not respect the character and was arrogant.
20.
George Lazenby was considered to reprise the role of James Bond in Never Say Never Again.
21.
George Lazenby admitted that after he left the role of Bond, he was unhireable.
22.
George Lazenby landed few roles, to the point that his agent described him as "difficult".
23.
George Lazenby spent the next 15 months sailing around the world with Chrissie Townson; the trip ended when she became pregnant with their first child, prompting Lazenby to settle down and try to reactivate his career as an actor.
24.
George Lazenby felt that if he had continued in the role, he would have gone crazy due to the mental stress that the role brings.
25.
George Lazenby played a role in the BBC's Play for Today series in 1973, starring in Roger Smith's The Operation.
26.
George Lazenby was meant to follow it with an Anglo-Italian western made in Turkey, followed by a film about rioting students in pre-Castro Cuba, but neither was made.
27.
In 1973, George Lazenby said he was "flat broke" when he went to Hong Kong to meet Bruce Lee and producer Raymond Chow.
28.
George Lazenby was meant to meet Lee for dinner on the day Lee died.
29.
George Lazenby felt that Lazenby did not understand how a film set worked and did not mesh well with the rest of the cast and crew.
30.
Sean Connery came to George Lazenby's defence, saying that in the time that he knew George Lazenby, he had not acted arrogant, instead applying that label to Broccoli.
31.
George Lazenby was particularly keen to obtain a role in The Thorn Birds, but the project would not be produced until years later, and without him.
32.
George Lazenby did manage to secure roles in Hawaii Five-O and Evening in Byzantium.
33.
George Lazenby made a guest appearance as Jor-El on the television series Superboy, in a two-part episode during the series' second season in 1990.
34.
George Lazenby appeared with Sylvia Kristel in several new Emmanuelle films in 1993, many of which appeared on cable television.
35.
On 5 November 2013, comedian Jim Jefferies stated in an interview that George Lazenby would be playing Jefferies's father in the then upcoming second season of his FX network sitcom Legit.
36.
George Lazenby appeared as himself in the 2017 docudrama "Becoming Bond".
37.
In 2019, George Lazenby starred as Dr Jason Love in an audiobook version of James Leasor's spy novel Passport to Oblivion.
38.
In 2024, George Lazenby announced his retirement from acting and public appearances.
39.
George Lazenby cited his concerns over his age and a desire to spend more time with his family.
40.
George Lazenby got into trouble when his mother was contacted to pay for the membership.
41.
In 1973, George Lazenby married his girlfriend of three years, Christina Ross "Chrissie" Townson, an heiress of the Gannett family.
42.
In 2002, Lazenby married former tennis player Pam Shriver and they had three children, including son George Junior Lazenby, born on 12 July 2004.
43.
In late 2023, George Lazenby was injured in a fall and he was briefly hospitalised.