Bernard Lee
An English actor whose screen career spanned more than 100 roles on film and television over nearly five decades, Bernard Lee was best remembered for his recurring appearances as 'M," the no-nonsense head of the British Secret Service in the first 11 James Bond films. The son of a music hall performer, Lee trained with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art prior to launching a prolific stage career in London's West End. Early film roles usually saw him cast as either a policeman or military officer in such features as "The Third Man" (1949) and "Seagulls over Sorrento" (1954), but it was with a relatively minor appearance as Bond's superior in "Dr. No" (1962) that indelibly linked him to Ian Fleming's legacy. For most of the two decades that followed, Lee steadily took on roles in projects like "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (1965), but increasingly it appeared as though audiences and producers alike only saw him as the authoritarian MI6 chief. Two years after appearing as M for the final time in "Moonraker" (1979), Lee succumbed to cancer. Although he was eventually replaced in the role, for the majority of die hard Bond fans, Bernard Lee would always be considered the one true personification of the man known as M.
Photos
Bernard Lee
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective | Sergeant Ben (Character) | - | 1981 |
59% |
|
Moonraker | M (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Christmas Carol | Ghost of Christmas Present (Character) | - | 1977 |
82% |
|
The Spy Who Loved Me | M (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Christmas Carol | Unknown (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Beauty and the Beast | Edward Beaumont (Character) | - | 1976 |
63% |
|
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell | Tarmut (Character) | - | 1974 |
40% |
|
The Man With the Golden Gun | M (Character) | - | 1974 |
67% |
|
Live and Let Die | M (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Man Who Died Twice | Francis Cumberland (Character) | - | 1973 |
64% |
|
Diamonds Are Forever | M (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet |
|
Long Ago Tomorrow | Uncle Bob (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dulcima | Mr Gaskain (Character) | - | 1971 |
81% |
|
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | M (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet |
|
Crossplot | Chilmore (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Clue of the Twisted Candle | Supt. Meredith (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet |
|
Operation Kid Brother | Commander Cunningham (Character) | - | 1967 |
74% |
|
007 - You Only Live Twice | M (Character) | - | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Legend of Young Dick Turpin | Jeremiah (Character) | - | 1966 |
86% |
|
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold | Patmore (Character) | - | 1965 |
85% |
|
Thunderball | M (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Man in a Looking Glass | Morgan Travis (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Place to Go | Matt Flint (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Saturday Night Out | George Hudson (Character) | - | 1964 |
99% |
|
007: Goldfinger | M (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ring of Treason | Henry Houghton (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Who Was Maddox? | Superintendent Meredith (Character) | - | 1964 |
97% |
|
From Russia With Love | M (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fury at Smugglers Bay | Black John (Character) | - | 1963 |
67% |
|
The L-Shaped Room | Charlie (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Brain | Dr. Frank Shears (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Share Out | Supt. Meredith (Character) | - | 1962 |
95% |
|
Dr. No | M (Character) | - | 1962 |
92% |
|
Whistle Down the Wind | Bostock (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Partners in Crime | Inspector Mann (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cone of Silence | Capt. George Gort (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Trouble in the Sky | Capt. George Gort (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Clue of the Silver Key | Supt. Meredith (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Secret Partner | Det. Supt. Frank Hanbury (Character) | - | 1961 |
80% |
|
The Angry Silence | Connolly (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet |
|
Kidnapped | Captain Hoseason (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Beyond This Place | Patrick Mathry (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Web of Evidence | Patrick Mathry (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet |
|
Breakout | Lt. Col. Huxley (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Man Upstairs | Inspector Thompson (Character) | - | 1959 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dunkirk | Charles (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Key | Cmdr. Wadlow (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
Nowhere to Go |
Victor Sloane/ |
- | 1958 |
No Score Yet |
|
Fire Down Below | Dr Sam (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet |
|
Across the Bridge | Chief Inspector Hadden (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Out of the Clouds | Customs Officer (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Spanish Gardener | Leighton Bailey (Character) | - | 1957 |
82% |
|
Pursuit of the Graf Spee | Captain Dove (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Ship That Died of Shame | The Customs Officer (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Crest of the Wave | Seaman `'Lofty'` Turner (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Purple Plain | Dr. Harris (Character) | - | 1954 |
57% |
|
The Detective | Inspector Valentine (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Yellow Balloon | Constable Chapman (Character) | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Gift Horse | A.S. "Stripey" Wood (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Island Rescue | Brigadier (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
Calling Bulldog Drummond | Col. Webson (Character) | - | 1951 |
100% |
|
Last Holiday | Inspector Wilton (Character) | - | 1950 |
83% |
|
The Blue Lamp | Inspector Cherry (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet |
|
Odette | Jack (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cage of Gold | Inspector Grey (Character) | - | 1950 |
99% |
|
The Third Man | Sergeant Paine (Character) | $447.0K | 1949 |
100% |
|
The Fallen Idol | Detective Hart (Character) | $58.1K | 1948 |
No Score Yet |
|
Quartet | Prison Visitor (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Elizabeth of Ladymead | John Beresford in 1903 (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Courtney Affair | Colonel Gascoyne (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Spare a Copper | Jake (Character) | - | 1940 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Murder in the Night | Roy Barnes (Character) | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Let George Do It | Oscar (Character) | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Frozen Limits | Bill McGrew (Character) | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Terror | Ferdy Fane (Character) | - | 1938 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rhodes | Cartwright (Character) | - | 1936 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Man in a Suitcase | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rheingold Theatre | Rudi Lankert (Character) | 1955 |