James Bond Actors in Order: Six 007s Across 25 Films, 1962 to 2021
James Bond actors in order runs to six men across 25 Eon Productions films, from Dr No in 1962 to No Time to Die in 2021. I drew every recurring character as a named line on my James Bond movie plot map art print, with each film a station and each actor named at the changeover.
If you want the films listed chronologically rather than the casting, I have a separate piece on James Bond movies in order. This one is about who played what, and for how long.
The Six Bond Actors, in Order
- Sean Connery, 6 films, Dr No (1962) to Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- George Lazenby, 1 film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- Roger Moore, 7 films, Live and Let Die (1973) to A View to a Kill (1985)
- Timothy Dalton, 2 films, The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989)
- Pierce Brosnan, 4 films, GoldenEye (1995) to Die Another Day (2002)
- Daniel Craig, 5 films, Casino Royale (2006) to No Time to Die (2021)
Connery's six and Lazenby's one overlap in sequence rather than in time, because Connery came back for Diamonds Are Forever after Lazenby's single outing. Lazenby's film is therefore the shortest segment on the whole map, one station wide, and on the artwork it reads as a hairline break in a line that otherwise carries straight through the 1960s.
The map covers the Eon series only. Never Say Never Again (1983) and the 1967 Casino Royale spoof are not on it, and nothing released after No Time to Die is either, because the artwork was drawn before it existed.
How the Map Works
Each character is a named line. Where that character appears in a film, their line passes through that film's station. Where they do not appear, the line terminates or branches away. The result is a picture of who is in which film, how the characters connect across the franchise, and where the cast turns over from one era to the next.
The map uses a red header, the convention across all my film maps, which separates them from the blue headed music discography maps in the range.
The Longest Line Belongs to Q, Not Bond
Desmond Llewelyn played Q across seventeen films, from From Russia With Love in 1963 to The World Is Not Enough in 1999. No actor in the franchise appears in more of them, including any of the six Bonds. John Cleese appeared alongside him in The World Is Not Enough and took the role alone in Die Another Day. Ben Whishaw brought Q back for Skyfall and carries the line to No Time to Die.
That is the single most useful thing the map shows that a cast list does not. The character everybody names the franchise after turns over six times. The quartermaster in the back room turns over twice, and one man holds the role for thirty-six years.
Who Plays the Recurring Roles
| Role | Actors on the map, by first appearance | Actors |
|---|---|---|
| James Bond | Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig | 6 |
| M | Bernard Lee, Robert Brown, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes | 4 |
| Q | Desmond Llewelyn, John Cleese, Ben Whishaw | 3 |
| Miss Moneypenny | Lois Maxwell, Caroline Bliss, Samantha Bond, Naomie Harris | 4 |
| Felix Leiter | Jack Lord, Cec Linder, Rik Van Nutter, Norman Burton, David Hedison, John Terry, Jeffrey Wright | 7 |
| Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Anthony Dawson, Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, Christoph Waltz | 5 |
M runs dark blue and is the clearest example of a character outliving its actors. Bernard Lee played M across eleven films from Dr No to Moonraker. Robert Brown took over from Octopussy through to Licence to Kill. Judi Dench carried M across seven films from GoldenEye to Skyfall, and Ralph Fiennes has held it from Skyfall onwards. Four actors, one continuous line, six decades.
Miss Moneypenny runs purple. Lois Maxwell originated the role across fourteen films from Dr No to A View to a Kill, which is more films than any single Bond. Caroline Bliss took the two Dalton films, Samantha Bond played the role through the Brosnan era, and Naomie Harris joined at Skyfall.
Felix Leiter Is the Most Recast Role in the Franchise
Leiter runs orange, and his line carries more names than any other on the map: seven actors across ten appearances, where Bond is six actors across twenty-five films. Jack Lord, Cec Linder, Rik Van Nutter, Norman Burton, David Hedison, John Terry and Jeffrey Wright have all played the CIA ally, each named at the point they take over.
David Hedison is the only one of them to return after a gap, playing Leiter in Live and Let Die in 1973 and again in Licence to Kill in 1989. On the map that is a line that stops, jumps sixteen years, and restarts under the same name. It is the same shape I draw on a discography map when a session player comes back after fifteen albums away, and it is the shape a list cannot show you.
The Villains and the Leading Women
The villain line runs black and carries some of the most recognisable names in post war cinema. Joseph Wiseman as Dr Julius No. Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger. Yaphet Kotto as Dr Kananga. Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga. Curd Jurgens as Karl Stromberg. Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax. Robert Carlyle as Renard. Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre. Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva.
The primary female lead runs teal, with the actress and the character named at each film station, from Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in Dr No through to Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, whose line is the only one in that group to run across two consecutive films.
Reading those two lines side by side is the closest thing the map has to an argument. The villain line changes every film. The lead female line mostly does too, until Craig, and then it does not.
Sizes, Paper and Framing
Every copy is a Giclée on 230gsm premium acid-free matte fine art paper.
- A3, 420 x 297 mm, £35, unframed only
- A2, 594 x 420 mm, £45 unframed or £125 in a black wood frame
- A1, 841 x 594 mm, £65 unframed or £175 in a black wood frame
There are three inch formats alongside those, 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in, priced the same way. They are separate formats rather than conversions of the A sizes. Black wood is the only frame on offer. A1 is the size to take if you want the actor names readable while standing in front of it, which for this map is most of the point.
The James Bond movie plot map art print is on its product page, in A3, A2 and A1, unframed or in a black wood frame.
Related Film Plot Maps
If the casting history is what interests you, the companion piece on Bond villains by movie works down the black line film by film. For the six Connery films on their own, there is Sean Connery Bond films in order. The rest of the range is in the movie map collection and the full catalogue of music and film maps.
Questions About the James Bond Map
What is the full list of James Bond actors in order?
Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, with Connery returning once after Lazenby for Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.
How many James Bond films are on the map?
Twenty five, the Eon Productions series from Dr No in 1962 to No Time to Die in 2021. Each film is a station and the sequence runs left to right in release order.
Which films are not on the map?
Never Say Never Again (1983) and the 1967 Casino Royale spoof, because neither was made by Eon Productions. Anything released after No Time to Die is also absent, because the artwork was drawn before it existed. That cutoff is deliberate rather than an oversight.
Who played James Bond the most times?
Roger Moore, with seven films. Sean Connery made six for Eon, and Daniel Craig five.
Are the actors named on the print itself?
Yes. Every character line carries the actor names at the point of each changeover, so the casting history is readable from the artwork without a separate key.
Was it designed by hand?
Every line was plotted from the credited cast of each film in sequence, and the layout decisions were mine. No AI was used to research or draw it.
If you are buying for a film fan and are not sure which map they would pick, there is a gift card for art prints.