A pair of Peters: Sellers and O’Toole in 1967’s Casino Royale
Peter O’Toole has died at 81. His stellar career included one very, very minor James Bond connection: an unbilled cameo in producer Charles K. Feldman’s 1967 Casino Royale spoof.
We’d try to explain, but it’s really not worth it. Feldman signed up a lot of famous actors for his over-the-top comedy. The producer opted to go the spoof route after being unable to cut a deal with Albert R. Broccoli (a former employee) and Harry Saltzman, who held the film rights to the bulk of the Ian Fleming 007 stories.
O’Toole in various obituaries (including THE GUARDIAN, VARIETY and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) understandably emphasized his role as the title character in Lawrence of Arabia.
That 1962 film, directed by David Lean, had a crew that would have a greater impact on the film world of James Bond: director of photography Freddie Young (You Only Live Twice), camera operator Ernie Day (who’d be a second unit director on The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker) and special effects man Cliff Richardson, the father of John Richardson, who’d work special effects on several Bond movies.
Also, Spy’s composer, Marvin Hamlisch, included a snippet of Maurice Jarre’s main theme for Lawrence for a scene set in the Eyptian desert.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: 1967 Casino Royale, Albert R. Broccoli, Charles K. Feldman, Cliff Richardson, Ernest Day, Freddie Young, Harry Saltzman, Ian Fleming, John Richardson, Marvin Hamlisch, Maurice Jarre, Moonraker, Peter O'Toole, Peter O'Toole dies, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice |
The Spy Command 
Another James Bond connection with Peter O’Toole is that he accompanied Kevin McClory, after the court’s granted the film rights to Thunderball, to a big celebration. A photo of him and McClory can be seen in the book THE BATTLE FOR BOND.