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Making James Bond a Woman Was Pitched Before 1962’s ‘Dr. No’ Got Made; Ian Fleming Met Sean Connery and Said: ‘I Want an Elegant Man, Not This Roughneck’


James Bond author Ian Fleming originally though Sean Connery was too much of a "roughneck" to play 007 on the big screen.

Hayward was a five-time Oscar nominee for best actress and won the prize for 1958’s “I Want to Live!” She earned nominations for 1947’s “Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman,” 1949’s “My Foolish Heart,” 1952’s “With a Song in My Heart,” and 1955’s “I’ll Cry Tomorrow,” the latter of which won her best actress honors at the Cannes Film Festival. The idea was apparently never a serious consideration for Fleming, who ultimately wanted to make Richard Burton the first on-screen James Bond. He’d reprise the role of Bond in five more 007 movies: “From Russia With Love,” “Goldfinger,” “Thunderball,” “You Only Live Twice” and “Diamonds Are Forever.”

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