We all know and love the memorable character of spy and playboy, James Bond but did you know…

The James Bond novels are created by British author, Ian Fleming. He was a Commander of Navy Intelligence and used real life experiences to create twelve British spy novels that included the character, 007.

George Lazenby replaced Sean Connery as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which brought in less money than any of the previous three bond films. A decision was made and Sean Connery was brought back for the next movie, Diamonds Are Forever.

Paul McCartney and Wings performed the theme song to the 1973 Bond flick, Live and Let Die and it was the first theme song to appear on the Billboard Top Ten, where it hit #2.

James Bond, though usually seen driving an Aston Martin, does not drive any vehicle in the 1979 movie, Moonraker.

The only Bond movie not based on a novel is The Spy Who Loved Me. Ian Fleming was not satisfied with the novel and only wanted the title to be used in the movie. From there, a completely different plot was written for theaters, making it the first completely original Bond film.

At age 12, James began his studies at Eton; however, he was asked to leave the school after an ‘incident’ involving some maids during his second term.

The secret service agency that Bond works for is known as MI6, a.k.a. Military Intelligence Section 6.

Bond quit smoking in the 1980 films but in the first Roger Moore movies, he is seen smoking cigars.

Bond’s original gun was his Beretta. M forced Bond to switch to a Walther PPK on the Dr. No. assignment after the Beretta jammed on Bond’s previous mission.

When James was 11, his parents died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges.

Bond tried to assassinate M, his boss in the British Secret Service, at the beginning of the novel The Man with the Golden Gun. This scene was deleted.

The total box office earnings for the collection of Bond films is $3,810,000,000. That’s a lot of zeros!