007 Off Duty: 10 Photos of Former James Bond Actors at Home

As the search for the next James Bond gathers pace, we peek into the domestic lives of his predecessorsPierce Brosnan at home in Los Angeles in 1983.Photo: Bob Riha Jr/Getty ImagesFor a secret agent, James Bond generates a remarkable amount of public discussion. Barely a day goes by without fresh speculation about who will be the next actor to take on the role of 007. Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, and Josh O’Connor are among the names linked to the role, with recent reports suggesting the search has reached final screen tests.Whoever takes over will join the small group who have played the part since Sean Connery’s debut in Dr. No in 1962. Away from the screen, the homes of these former James Bond actors reveal more about the men in the dinner jackets. These archival photographs find them settling into family life and indulging interests that occasionally followed them onto set. Below, find a little domestic distraction while we wait for the next Bond to introduce himself.Sean Connery: Before BondSean Connery relaxing in his ground-floor basement flat in NW5. Photo: Keystone Features/Getty ImagesPhotographed at home in England in 1955, Connery is still around seven years away from his first appearance as James Bond in this shapshot. His surroundings are modest, with little suggestion of the polished interiors his screen alter ego was about to frequent. Connery established the role of Bond across six films in during the 1960s and early 1970s.George Lazenby: A brief spell in the MI6Landing the role of James Bond required a little wardrobe planning on George Lazenby’s part. According to the official Bond website, the former model bought an unused suit made for Connery, then visited his predecessor’s barber at the Dorchester to request the same haircut. Producer Cubby Broccoli happened to be in the neighboring chair.George Lazenby pictured at his home in Kensington, London, 1973. Photo: Mirrorpix/Getty ImagesHis only appearance as 007 was in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It gave Bond one of his most personal storylines, with Diana Rigg playing his ill-fated bride, Tracy. By the time of the Kensington photograph shown above in February 1973, Lazenby had already left the role. Seated with papers in hand, he is surrounded by books, records and a guitar propped beside the sofa. The glass-topped coffee table is crowded with objects, including a decorative horse’s head, while a substantial wooden cabinet provides storage behind him. Later that year, Roger Moore made his Bond debut in Live and Let Die.Roger Moore: From reading the dictionary to thrilling scriptsRoger Moore reading the dictionary at his home in Los Angeles, circa 1955. Photo: Pictorial Parade/Getty ImagesRoger Moore had yet to order his first on-screen Bond martini when he was photographed at home reading a dictionary, while working as a television actor.Roger Moore kissing his wife, Welsh singer Dorothy Squires, outside their home in Bexley Heath, London, in 1957. Photo: John Pratt/Getty ImagesHe married Welsh singer Dorothy Squires in 1953, and they lived primarily at The Mount—a mansion on Wansunt Road in Old Bexley, Kent.Moore and Squires at home in Kent, 1958. Photo: Bob Haswell/Getty ImagesThe couple divorced in 1968, and a year later, Moore married Luisa Mattioli. Sherwood House in Denham, located close to Pinewood Studios, served as the couple's base during Moore's first three Bond films. In his autobiography, he described the property as “near London and perfect for a growing family.”Roger Moore and his wife Luisa Mattioli relax outside their home in Denham, England, 1973.Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty ImagesIts appeal extended to 11 acres of grounds, which included a tennis court, heated swimming pool and greenhouses when the house was advertised for £5 million in 2015.Timothy Dalton: Licensed to bloomWhen he finally took on Bond's on-screen persona, Timothy Dalton was well-prepared for the role. Photo: United Archives/Getty ImagesProducers considered Timothy Dalton for Bond early in his career, but he felt too young for the role. When he eventually signed on for The Living Daylights in 1986, he reread Fleming’s novels to prepare for a more serious interpretation of the character.Pierce Brosnan: At home before GoldenEyePierce Brosnan at home in Los Angeles in 1983. Photo: Bob Riha Jr/Getty ImagesPierce Brosnan was making his name in Remington Steele when he posed at his Los Angeles home in June 1983, but his introduction to the world of Bond had come through his first wife, actress Cassandra Harris. She appeared in For Your Eyes Only, and visiting her on location in Corfu brought him into the producers’ orbit. Brosnan was offered the role in 1986, but was prevented from taking it due to his television commitments at the time. His debut in GoldenEye came almost a decade later, in 1995.Pierce Brosnan playing pool with his son, Sean, at their Los Angeles home in 1992. Photo: Eric Robert/Getty ImagesThis 1992 photographs show Brosnan playing guitar on the sofa, shooting pool with his eight-year-old son Sean, and entertaining two dogs in the garden. Cream sofas and floral upholstery adorn the living room, while arched windows and white shutters open the space to the surrounding greenery. Taken the year after Harris died of ovarian cancer, the photographs capture Brosnan bringing up their family before Bond transformed his career.Pierce Brosnan with his dogs outside of their Los Angeles home in 1992. Photo: Eric Robert/Getty ImagesPainting had become a creative outlet for the star during Harris’s illness. Having trained as a commercial artist before acting, Brosnan returned to it in the late 1980s, recalling on his website: “I started painting again and out came every colour.” By the time he became Bond, painting was so sufficiently embedded in his life that his dressing room at Leavesden doubled as a studio during GoldenEye.Daniel Craig: Domestic intelligence, classifiedDaniel Craig attends the Bond 25 film launch at Ian Fleming's Home, GoldenEye, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 2019. Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty ImagesFor this final entry, the front door stays closed. Of all the former James Bond actors, Daniel Craig represents a more guarded approach to sharing domestic life. His wife, actress Rachel Weisz, explained the couple’s position in a 2012 conversation with British Vogue: “I think it’s pretty ordinary to think that marriage is private and sacred.”Speculation over who will inherit Craig's martini glass keeps his name in the headlines even after his departure.Not a subscriber? 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