LIFE 50 Years of James Bond

Fifty years (and five billion dollars in ticket sales) ago, the dashing Scottish actor Sean Connery declared suavely that he was "Bond, James Bond." Thus began a cinematic series unlike any other. In November 2012, Skyfall, the 23rd movie in what is seen as the authorized line of Bond films, will be released, with Daniel Craig (the sixth Bond) again in the lead role. The world will once more stream to the theaters for another dose of Bond. LIFE was on the scene in the swinging '60s when James Bond became a cultural icon (in fact, when we put the gold-painted actress Shirley Eaton on the cover in 1964, we helped him along), and now LIFE tells the whole story in this commemorative book. Ian Fleming, a high-ranking officer in British Naval Intelligence of World War II, dreamt up his MI6 spy, code number 007, in 1953, and a decade later, with Dr. No, From Russia With Love and then the smash Goldfinger, saw his creation take on a life entirely his own. All the fun of Bond is here: The movies; the reminiscences by the stars..