Joseph Wiseman

Though an award-winning stage actor and prolific television performer for nearly five decades, Joseph Wiseman was enshrined in the public consciousness as Dr. No, the malevolent scientist who battled Sean Connery's James Bond in the 1962 film of the same name, which launched the long-running action franchise. Wiseman initially dismissed the film, believing it to be a B-grade title at best, and was mortified in later years to learn that it was the film with which he was most identified. In truth, Wiseman appeared to regard film and television as side careers to his main outlet, the American stage, where he starred in such critically acclaimed productions as "Detective Story" (1949), "Golden Boy" (1952) and "In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer" (1969). But his screen efforts were also marked by memorable character turns in such features as "The Unforgiven" (1960), "Bye Bye Braverman" (1968) and "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" (1974), as well as appearances on "The Twilight Zone" (CBS, 1959-1964), "The Streets of San Francisco" (CBS, 1972-77) and "Crime Story" (ABC, 1986-88). Though his legacy as Bond's first nemesis was never surpassed by any subsequent screen projects, Joseph Wiseman also enjoyed a long and celebrated career as an actor in three different mediums.