Desmond Llewelyn’s James Bond archive is going under the hammer for a starting bid of $12,000.
Desmond Llewelyn’s James Bond archive is going under the hammer for a starting bid of $12,000
Items owned by the ‘Q’ actor from the 007 franchise up for auction include annotated scripts, call sheets and a photo book from ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’.
They will be up for grabs from Nate D Sanders Auctions on July 28, with online bids accepted for the lot from around £10,000.
The auctioneer said it was an “excellent James Bond archive of memorabilia from the only actor to have worked with five James Bond actors, from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan.”
Llewelyn, who died aged 85 in 1999 after a car crash, played MI6’s ‘gadget master’ 'Q' in 17 Bond films from 1963 until his death.
It made him the longest serving actor in the franchise, with the sequences of him showing Bond the latest spy technology some of the best loved in the films.
His revised shooting scripts up for auction are said to be in “very good condition” and include screenplays for 007 films ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, ‘For Your Eyes Only’ and ‘Octopussy’.
The custom leather bound photo book for '’Tomorrow Never Dies’ was prepared for the cast of the film.
A description says: “Made to pay tribute to Albert R Broccoli (producer), book contains approximately 44 tissue-guarded glossy photos of cast and crew. Photos vary in size but measure approximately 8'' x 10''. Book measures 13'' x 12.75''. Some photos out of order and light wear, else near fine.”
Also in the lot are “approximately nine call sheets for various James Bond films” and a letter “granting Llewelyn permission to carry a prop James Bond briefcase containing high-tech gadgets to be used for promotion of the film ‘Octopussy’.”
A copy of Llewelyn’s biography is also included.
The actor was killed on 19 December 1999, when he was driving alone to a book signing event.
His Renault Mégane collided head-on with a Fiat Bravo on the A27 near the village of Berwick, East Sussex.
Llewelyn sustained massive internal injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to Eastbourne District General Hospital, where he died soon afterwards.
The driver of the Fiat, a 35-year-old man, was seriously injured but survived, and a woman in her thirties also in the car and suffered minor injuries.
An inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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