Jews Bond

edited March 2015 in Bond 26 & Beyond Posts: 2,483
I'm just curious as to how many Jews have made major contributions to the Bond phenomenon. Off the top of my head I can note Harry Saltzman, Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz, Eva Green, and Jill St. John. Barbara Bach is half Jewish, too. And if one expands the net somewhat, I'm guessing author Stephen Jay Rubin is probably Jewish, although I don't know for sure.

Any others?
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Comments

  • Posts: 1,817
    Peter Hunt.
  • Well, I would suggest that these Jews sometimes have an Ivy League persona, in that they change their name, Jill St John for instance, like Lauren Bacall, to appear less culturally Jewish. (Nice to see Becall comes up on a spellcheck!) I wouldn't say all the above have made major contributions however and their Jewishness is almost incidental.
  • Hey, what happened to our ability to edit posts?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Chaim Topol from FYEO would be another Jewish talent in the Bond series.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 13,879
    Major contribution to Bond- Ken Adam.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    Other than the obvious, one would imagine a significant contribution given their strong standing in the entertainment/media field.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Hey, what happened to our ability to edit posts?

    Easy. Next to the "quote" button you have that little black icon and when you click on it, you can edit your post. ;-)
  • Posts: 6,396
    QBranch wrote: »
    Major contribution to Bond- Ken Adam.

    No, he was only a Flight Lieutenant. ;-)
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited July 2014 Posts: 13,879
    QBranch wrote: »
    Major contribution to Bond- Ken Adam.
    No, he was only a Flight Lieutenant. ;-)
    Oh fly away, will you ;)
  • Posts: 14,800
    Eva Green is Jewish?

    If Jason Isaacs had been cast as Bond, we would have had literally a Jewish Bond.
  • Posts: 246
    Ludovico wrote: »
    If Jason Isaacs had been cast as Bond, we would have had literally a Jewish Bond.

    Made me wonder what if Bond was Jewish.

    No more royal beluga for Mr Bond in that event. And villains would only have to schedule their plans for the sabbath and they'd be home free.
  • edited August 2014 Posts: 14,800
    He would not have to be a good Jew. My father in law is Jewish and eats more pork in a week than I do in a year. And I have never seen him resting on a Saturday, or indeed any day. And it's not like Bond is a good Christian, if he considers himself Christian at all.

    Oh, and isn't Sam Mendes Jewish? I think I heard that one when American Beauty (which I never liked much) came out. I don't know how accurate it is.
  • Posts: 246
    All good points - though I'll nit-pick and suggest 'observant jew' in place of 'good jew' ;-)
  • orthodox or not?
  • edited October 2014 Posts: 11,425
    QBranch wrote: »
    Major contribution to Bond- Ken Adam.

    Yes, Ken Adam's life story is fascinating. The son of a department store owner in prewar Berlin, his family fled to London to escape the Nazis. On reaching 18, he joined the Royal Air Force and became an ace fighter pilot and (so I understand) the only pilot of German origin to fly with the RAF during the war.

    His father had commissioned the famous architect Mies Van Der Rohe to design the company's new store in Berlin but it was never built due to the war. Ken Adam later went to architecture school at University College London before moving into production design.

    A true legend.

    I'm sure there are a lot more Jewish people who've been involved with Bond over the years. The Jewish contribution to the arts, as well as pretty much every other field of human achievement, is out of all proportion to the size of the community.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Anon wrote: »
    All good points - though I'll nit-pick and suggest 'observant jew' in place of 'good jew' ;-)

    Well, if you think practicing is "good" then he is not "good", at least when it comes to religious observance.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    If only Richard Kiel had been Jewish... Or, wait, was he?
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    If only Richard Kiel had been Jewish.

    And what? What difference would this have made to TSWLM and MR?
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    We could have called him Jews instead of Jaws.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,687
    This has become a silly thread.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,328
    The title is pretty silly itself. It should have been something more along the lines of "Jewish contributions to the Bond franchise."
  • TokolosheTokoloshe Under your bed
    Posts: 2,667
    Paul Ritter who plays Guy Haines in QOS is Jewish. He plays the bumbling dad of the family in the utterly hilarious sitcom Friday Night Dinner.

    Well worth looking up if you don't know it; although you will never be able to see Haines in the Tosca audience again and keep a straight face.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2014 Posts: 17,728
    chrisisall wrote: »
    This has become a silly thread.

    Indeed.
  • Posts: 7,653
    there is indeed a whiff of bad taste with the title of the thread. :\">
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Klaus Hergescheimer.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Tokoloshe wrote: »
    Paul Ritter who plays Guy Haines in QOS is Jewish. He plays the bumbling dad of the family in the utterly hilarious sitcom Friday Night Dinner.

    I have seen him on the stage of the National Theatre in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, he plays the father of the main character. Really good actor I think. Just for this I wish we had seen more of Guy Haines.
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    Wasn't Jason Isaccs a contender for Bond at some point? Not now though....unless Connery lends him a wig.
  • Posts: 2,483
    SaintMark wrote: »
    there is indeed a whiff of bad taste with the title of the thread. :\">

    Only to those who seek offense.

  • MrcogginsMrcoggins Following in the footsteps of Quentin Quigley.
    Posts: 3,144
    I can't see any point to this thread so I'm requesting that it be locked
  • Posts: 2,483
    Mrcoggins wrote: »
    I can't see any point to this thread so I'm requesting that it be locked

    Point? It's bloody obvious, isn't it? I'm interested in which contributors to the Bondoverse are Jewish. THAT is the point. But perhaps this counts as "inciting racial hatred" in the land of tolerance and free speech.



    8-|
This discussion has been closed.