The 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is one of the best, most highly respected (these days; it took a while for viewers to come around to it) entries in the James Bond franchise – and the fact that it ranks highly on many Bond fans’ list of favorites is quite a feat, given that it happens to star George Lazenby, an actor who only played Bond for one movie and is often ranked below the other actors to take on the role. Sean Connery had stepped away from Bond after five movies and producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli considered the likes of OIiver Reed, Terence Stamp, Michael Caine, Adam West, future Bond actors Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, and more for the role before choosing Lazenby. One of the other names on the list was a surprising choice: Dick Van Dyke!
During a recent interview on The Today Show, actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke, who is aiming to celebrate his 100th birthday on December 13th, revealed that Albert R. Broccoli asked him if he would be interested in playing Bond after they worked together on the 1968 musical fantasy film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was based on a novel by Bond creator Ian Fleming. His response: “Have you heard my British accent?”
So Van Dyke counted himself out of the running for Bond, which is one of the few career decisions he now looks back on with regret.
Van Dyke would have been 43 at the time On Her Majesty’s Secret Service went into production and was already known for his work in Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins, the aforementioned Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and, of course, 158 episodes of the classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966. It’s a bit difficult to imagine him playing James Bond, but I would have loved to have had the opportunity to watch him do so. You can watch the Bond moment from the Today Show interview below.
After Lazenby stepped away from Bond, Sean Connery was talked into coming back for one more movie (Diamonds Are Forever), then the Roger Moore era began.
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