James Bond Actors You May Not Have Known Passed Away James Bond Actors You May Not Have Known Passed Away MGM/United Artists By Tim Lammers/May 19, 2021 7:17 pm EDT Without question, Eon Productions' James Bond film series has been one of the most successful franchises in cinematic history, with 25 films produced to date, including the upcoming, long-delayed "No Time to Die." The series kicked off, of course, with "Dr. No" in 1962, with Sean Connery playing the dashing British secret agent who goes by the code name 007. Over the years the Bond mantle has been taken up by five other actors: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.