Bernard Lee
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John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from the age of six. He was trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...
in London. Lee appeared in over one hundred films, as well as on stage and in television dramatisations. He was known for his roles as authority figures, often playing military characters or policemen in films such as '' The Third Man'', '' The Blue Lamp'', '' The Battle of the River Plate'', and '' Whistle Down the Wind''.


Early life

Lee was born on 10 January 1908, the son of Nellie (née Smith) and Edmund James Lee. He was born in either
County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
in what is now the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, or
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
, Middlesex. Edmund, an actor, introduced his six-year-old son to the stage in 1914 in a sketch called "The Double Event" at the Oxford Music Hall in London. Lee attended the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...
, and worked as a fruit porter to pay his fees.


Early acting career

After graduating from RADA in the 1930s, Lee began working in
repertory theatre A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...
in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
and in
Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...
,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, before beginning work on the West End stage in thrillers, such as ''Blind Man's Bluff''. He also played comedic roles, such as in the play ''Ten Minute Alibi'' with
Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation an ...
. Lee's screen debut was in '' The Double Event'' (1934), followed by a role as Cartwright in Berthold Viertel's '' Rhodes of Africa'' (1936), a biopic of
Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...
, in which he starred alongside Walter Huston, Oscar Homolka, and Basil Sydney. Although Lee was in wartime service in the army between 1940 and 1946, he had managed to act in several films earlier which were released between 1939 and 1943, including '' Murder in Soho'', '' The Frozen Limits'', and '' Let George Do It!'' (known in the US as ''To Hell with Hitler'', 1940) with
George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...
.


Military service

Lee served with the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in
Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foo ...
on 13 September 1941. While waiting to be demobbed he attended a golfing ladies' night where he met a producer. This subsequently led to his being offered a part in the play ''Stage Door''.


Film and stage actor

In the late 1940s, Lee returned to the stage whilst also developing a successful film career. He had appeared in ''Murder in Soho'' (1939) then in
Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox Order of the British Empire, CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and film director, director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best know ...
's '' The Courtneys of Curzon Street'' (1947), playing a colonel alongside
Anna Neagle Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer. She was a successful box-office draw in British cinema for 2 ...
, Michael Wilding and Daphne Slater; the film was a major success and became the biggest hit at the British box office of 1947. He developed a reputation for playing "solid, dependable characters such as policemen, serving officers or officials" in films such as '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), '' The Third Man'' (1949), '' The Blue Lamp'' (1950), '' Last Holiday'' (1950), '' Cage of Gold'' (1950), '' Mr. Denning Drives North'' (1952), '' White Corridors'' (1951), '' The Yellow Balloon'' (1953), '' Beat the Devil'' (1953), and '' Father Brown'' (1954), and commanders, colonels, or brigadiers in films such as '' Morning Departure'' (1950), '' Calling Bulldog Drummond'' (1951), '' Appointment with Venus'' (1951), and many more. In
John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...
's '' Beat the Devil'' (1953), Terence Pettigrew considers Lee to have been instrumental to the climax of the film, remarking that it was "left to Bernard Lee to inject a badly needed touch of earthiness at the end." In total, Lee appeared in over one hundred films during his career. During the 1950s, Lee had a long run on stage, appearing as Able Seaman Turner in ''Seagulls Over Sorrento'', a role he later reprised in the film of the same name with
Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
(released in the US as ''Crest of the Wave''). Lee starred opposite
Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...
in '' The Purple Plain'' (1954), playing a Royal Air Force medical officer based in Burma during the late Second World War and portrayed Captain Patrick Dove in
Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
and
Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...
's war film '' The Battle of the River Plate'' (1956), based upon the battle of the same name. He starred alongside John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch. George Lovell remarked that Captain Patrick Dove was played "ponderously by Bernard Lee, but he forms a much closer bond with the battleship's commander, Captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch)." The film was the fourth most popular film in Britain in 1957. Other films of this period include '' The Spanish Gardener'' (1956), ''
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
'' (1958), '' Beyond This Place'' (1959), '' Whistle Down the Wind'' (1961), and '' The L-Shaped Room'' (1962).


James Bond series

In 1962 Lee was cast in the role that ''The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema'' described as his best remembered, playing the character of M, the head of the
Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...
(MI6)—and the superior of James Bond—in the first
Eon Productions Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the ''James Bond'' film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK. ''James Bond'' films Eon wa ...
film, ''Dr. No''. A number of writers have noted that Lee's interpretation of the character was in line with the original literary representation; Cork and Stutz observed that Lee was "very close to Fleming's version of the character", whilst Rubin commented on the serious, efficient, no-nonsense authority figure. Smith and Lavington, meanwhile, remarked that Lee was "the very incarnation of Fleming's crusty admiral." One American newspaper, ''
The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'', described Lee as "a real roast-beef-and-Yorkshire-pudding type of British actor". Murray Pomerance refers to Lee as a "paternal actor" in embodying this role. Terence Pettigrew, in his study ''British film character actors: great names and memorable moments'' agreed, noting that Lee was a "gruff, reliable, no-nonsense role character actor", with "kindly eyes, droll manner and expressly Anglo-Saxon level-headedness". In 1967, Lee appeared in '' O.K. Connery'', a spoof of the James Bond film series which starred Connery's brother
Neil Connery Neil Niren Connery (16 December 1938 – 9 May 2021) was a Scottish actor and the younger brother of actor Sean Connery. Early life Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 16 December 1938. The Connery family is of partial Irish origin. His ...
,
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...
(
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
), and several former actors of the series. During this period he also appeared in several ITC television productions such as '' The Baron'', ''
Man in a Suitcase ''Man in a Suitcase'' is a British television private eye thriller series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV from 27 September 1967 to 17 April 1968. American Broadcast ...
'', and ''
Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...
''. In 1972, he portrayed Tarmut the sculptor in
Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explic ...
's
Hammer Horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...
picture '' Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'', alongside
Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...
, Shane Briant, and David Prowse; it was not released until 1974.


Personal life

On 30 January 1972, Lee's first wife, Gladys Merredew, died in a fire at their 17th-century home in Oare, Kent, which also left Lee hospitalised. According to the actor Jack Warner, "Bernard and Gladys had a lovely 17-century cottage in the Kent village of Oare, and it was there she died tragically in a fire early in 1972. Bernard and Gladys were trapped in their bedroom when the fire started on the ground floor. Bernard escaped through a window and ran to get a ladder in an attempt to rescue Gladys, but unhappily was unsuccessful. It was an awful end to a long and happy marriage." In February 1972, Lee was mugged and robbed by two youths. After the mugging and fire, Lee turned to drink, was unable to find work for two years, and ran into debt. By chance, Lee met
Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...
in a pub, who, upon hearing of Lee's problems, gave him a cheque for $6,000 to clear his debts, together with a note saying that everyone has a spot of trouble once in a while. Burton's gift assisted Lee in overcoming his depression. In 1975, both Lee and Lois Maxwell accepted roles in their usual Bond characters in the poorly received French James Bond spoof, '' From Hong Kong with Love''. Three years after the fire, Lee married television director's assistant Ursula McHale. Lee's first marriage produced a daughter, Ann, who also followed her father onto the stage, and did so with his blessing, Lee saying "She's doing what she wants to do and enjoying every moment of it." Ann later married Alan Miller, a stage actor and later stage manager at the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
: their son is the British actor Jonny Lee Miller. Lee's hobbies included golf, fishing, reading, music and sailing.


Death

In November 1980, Lee was admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in London, suffering from
stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
. He died there on 16 January 1981, six days after his 73rd birthday; his wife Ursula was present at his death. After his death, Ursula joined Exit (now Dignity in Dying) after witnessing Lee's suffering. Lee was cremated at
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...
on 23 January 1981. Lee died after filming began on '' For Your Eyes Only'', but before he could film his scenes as M. Out of respect for Lee, no replacement was found, and the script was rewritten so that the character was said to be on leave. A year after Lee's death, Terence Pettigrew summarised his acting work as a "Gruff, reliable, no-nonsense role character actor, whose many credits include policemen, servicemen, father figures, and spy chiefs. Mostly shows the honest, hard-working face of officialdom, with only very occasional lapses." Lee was replaced in the role of M by
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
, who acted with Lee in '' The Spy Who Loved Me''.


Filmography and other works

From 1962 to 1979 Lee featured in eleven James Bond films as the character M, Bond's superior:


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

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External links


Bernard Lee
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Bernard 1908 births 1981 deaths Military personnel from the London Borough of Hounslow 20th-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British Army personnel of World War II Deaths from stomach cancer in England English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors Actors from the London Borough of Hounslow Royal Sussex Regiment soldiers People from Brentford