| Jimmy Bond | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Jimmy Bond |
|
First Appearance |
Climax! - Casino Royale (1954) |
|
Original Publisher |
CBS |
|
Created by |
Antony Ellis, Charles Bennett, & Ian Fleming |
Origin[]
Jimmy Bond is a fictional character appearing in the Climax! live performance episode "Casino Royale", a television adaptation of Ian Fleming's first novel which aired in 1954. Though he is based on the still-copyrighted literary Bond, this is a different character who's an American agent working for "Combined Intelligence Agency". He was portrayed by American actor Barry Nelson.
As soon as he arrives at the Casino, Bond narrowly survives an assassination attempt and pairs up with his contact, British Intelligence officer Clarence Leiter, who remembers "Card Sense Jimmy Bond" from when he played the Maharajah of Deauville. While Bond explains the rules of baccarat, Leiter explains Bond's mission: to defeat a SMERSH operative at baccarat and force his Soviet spymasters to "retire" him.
Bond then encounters a former lover and French agent of the Deuxième Bureau, Valerie Mathis, who is the operative's current girlfriend. Her allegiance is under question throughout the episode, but concludes with her siding with Bond.
Bond beats the operative at baccarat, but when he returns to his hotel room, is confronted by the operative and his bodyguards.
The soviet operative tortures Bond in order to find out where Bond has hidden the cheque for his winnings, but Bond does not reveal where it is. After a fight between Bond and some guards, Bond shoots and wounds the soviet, saving Valerie in the process.
Exhausted, Bond sits in a chair opposite the operative to talk. Mathis gets in between them and the soviet grabs her from behind, threatening her with a concealed razor blade. As the soviet operative moves towards the door with Mathis as a shield, she struggles, breaking free slightly and Bond is able to shoot the operative.
Personality[]
Jimmy Bond is an American agent, working for Combined Intelligence Agency, has a much more boyish nature rather than being mature, cracks jokes, and doesn't engage in violence and physical action unless needed and he is also not a womanizer. He seems to be an expert on gambling, particularly baccarat.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Climax! Season 1 episode 3: Casino Royale (1954)
Notes[]
- The 1954 television adaptation of the still-copyrighted novel, along with all original characters introduced in that adaptation, such as American agent Jimmy Bond and British agent Clarence Leiter, are in the public domain. The episode contains no copyright notice and no record of renewal.
- Although the copy found of this episode was black and white, the original episode was in full color.
- Nelson himself had not read Casino Royale and did not know the James Bond literary character his television character was based on was British originally.
- The Jimmy Bond featured in later volumes of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes some inspiration from this iteration of the character, including his allegiance with the US government.