Bernard Lee

A portrait of him (in the character of "M") can be seen briefly in the background of the MI6 castle in the 007 film The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Was preparing to reprise the role of "M" in For Your Eyes Only (1981) at the time of his death. As a sign of respect, the script was changed to say that "M" was on leave, rather than recast the role with another actor (which did not occur until Octopussy (1983) in 1983), and scenes originally meant to include "M" were rewritten with other characters, such as "Q" for the confession booth meeting with James Bond (Roger Moore).

He was seriously ill during the filming of Live and Let Die (1973), causing the producers to consider replacing him with Kenneth More. However Lee recovered sufficiently to play the character M until Moonraker (1979), the last Bond film made before his death from stomach cancer in 1981.

While making On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), George Lazenby, who portrayed Bond in the film, was fooling around on horseback and caused Lee to fall into a fence and tear his leg open. As no doctor was available, the local vet stitched the gash up.

He made 10 films with Desmond Llewelyn: From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man With the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).

In 1962, he made his first appearance as the head of the British secret service in the first James Bond film, Dr.

In the early 1960s, he also made regular appearances as police detectives in the The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959) second feature series, usually as "Inspector Meredith".

He was effectively cast against type in only two films, as the union agitator in The Angry Silence (1960), and as a disgruntled civil servant who becomes a spy for the Russians in Shadow of Treason (1964).

He worked with Christopher Lee in Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956), Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) while his grandson Jonny Lee Miller worked with him in Dark Shadows (2012).

He appeared in a moving scene with Petula Clark with his whole head covered in bandage in "White Corridors" the hospital drama film (1951).

Best remembered as 'M' in the James Bond films, Bernard Lee was a popular character player in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Born into a theatrical family, he made his stage debut at age six and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

It was only after World War II that he concentrated his efforts on the cinema, and was much in demand in British films of the 1950s as friendly authority figures, including army sergeants, police detectives or navy officers.

Detectives became a particular specialty, and he played this role in more than a dozen films, including The Blue Lamp (1950), Beat the Devil (1953) and The Detective (1954).

He also made memorable appearances in The Third Man (1949), Operation Disaster (1950), Glory at Sea (1952), Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956), Dunkirk (1958) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961).

He appeared in ten films with Geoffrey Keen: The New Lot (1943), The Fallen Idol (1948), The Third Man (1949), The Spanish Gardener (1956), Nowhere to Go (1958), Web of Evidence (1959), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), The Angry Silence (1960), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).

He first appeared on the West End stage in London in 1928, and continued to work in the theatre during the 1930s, taking only occasional film roles.