James Bond Director - Terence Young

About

Life: June 20th, 1915 - September 7th 1994
Birthplace: Shanghai, China.
Place of Death: France
Cause of Death: Heart Attack
Gender: Male

Summary

Terence Young was the first James Bond director. He directed Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Thunderball.

Biography

Terence Young is perhaps best known for being the first director of the legendary James Bond series. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1915, one year into WWI. He started his film career as a screenwriter in the 1930's but went into service as a paratrooper in WWII. After the war, even with his good reputation as a screenwriter, Terence decided the process was too slow and turned to directing where he could make films without worrying about the many tedious rewrites.

In his early career, he directed several films for future James Bond producer Albert R Broccoli, which is probably why he later became a James Bond director. He directed the first two movies, Dr. No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963) before bowing out to Guy Hamilton for Goldfinger (1964). Terence returned to direct his third and final Bond movie, Thunderball (1965). In his life time, Terence directed over 40 movies, including two of his latest, Run for Your Life and The Jigsaw Man. He died of a heart attack at the age of 79. Terence young was often compared to James Bond, as he had many similar characteristics.

James Bond Movies Directed

Dr No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Thunderball (1965)

Trivia

During pre-production, Terence used his own tailor to suit Sean Connery
Terence had sessions with Sean Connery, giving him tips on his style of walking among other things

Awards/Nominations

Nominated for the Golden Laurel award in 1967