George Baker, 007 and Prisoner actor, dies

Character actor George Baker, who appeared in both James Bond movies and the original version of the televison series The Prisoner, has died at 80, according to an obituary on the BBC’s Web site.

Baker played Sir Hilary Bray, who James Bond (George Lazenby) impersonates, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and a British naval officer in 1977’s The Spy Who Love Me. He also was one of many Number Twos, in The Prisoner. To view his credits on IMDB.com, JUST CLICK HERE.

UPDATE: Here’s part of the scene where Bond meets with Sir Hilary:

Bond 23 finale to be shot at Scottish castle, BBC says

The BBC, in a report on its Web site, says Bond 23’s finale will be photographed at a castle in Scotland, which will be the setting for the 2012 film’s climax.

Here’s an excerpt:

The final scenes of the new James Bond film are to be shot at Duntrune Castle, near Lochgilphead in Argyll.

Patricia Malcolm, who lives in the castle with her husband Robin, said several days of filming would start at the end of February 2012.

“They are using the castle – just the outside – it’s going to be used for the end of the film.

“I think it is meant to be James Bond’s ancestral home – he will bring all the villains here.

“I believe it’s mostly being filmed in China and Turkey. They want a winter scene, so they are going to bring their own snow.”

Here are some things to note:

— The source of this is the BBC, not a blog, not a message board of a fan Web site.

— The BBC quotes a landowner, and the person is quoted by name. It’s not an unnamed source.

We’ll see if this comes to pass. To read the entire BBC story, CLICK HERE.