Lois Maxwell and James Bond by the numbers

The official James Bond Twitter feed offered up this quiz on May 15:

Who’s played Moneypenny the most times in the Bond films? pic.twitter.com/0eddzUKhuf

— James Bond (@007) May 15, 2015

Spoiler alert: It’s Lois Maxwell (1927-2007). We have no idea how many fans got the answer wrong. Regardless, the quiz got us to thinking about a few numbers related to her long run as Moneypenny.

NUMBER OF JAMES BOND FILM APPEARANCES: 14

YEAR OF FIRST 007 APPEARANCE: 1962

YEAR OF LAST 007 APPEARANCE: 1985

PERCENTAGE OF EON-MADE MADE 007 FILMS WITH MAXWELL IN CAST: 58% (includes SPECTRE, still in production, in the calculation, or 14 divided by 24).

PERCENTAGE OF ALL 007 FILMS WITH MAXWELL IN CAST: 54% (includes 1967’s Casino Royale and 1983’s Never Say Never Again in the calculation, or 14 divided by 26).

MISCELLANEOUS TRIVIA: Maxwell will still have appeared in at least half of Eon-made Bond films until Bond 29 is produced. At a rate of one movie made every three years, that would be in 2030.

Robert Drasnin, spy TV composer, dies

Robert Drasnin (1927-2015)

Robert Drasnin, a composer whose work included episodes of 1960s spy series, died May 13 at 87, according to AN ANNOUNCEMENT BY DIONYSUS RECORDS.

Drasin scored eight episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. during the second and third seasons, with the music repeated in episodes without original scores. He also scored Mission: Impossible and The Wild Wild West. With the latter, Drasnin specifically composed music for the third episode, “The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth,” the first appearance of Dr. Loveless (Michael Dunn). Drasnin’s short theme for the character would be in other episodes featuring the show’s arch villain.

Here’s an excerpt from the Dionysus Records obituary:

Bob is now mostly known for his two masterpiece exotica albums, Voodoo and Voodoo 2, but those are only two highlights in a long and multifaceted career as a player, composer, executive, and teacher.

He joined the Musicians Union at the age of 14 upon being hired to play in the Canteen Kids big band on Hoagy Carmichael’s radio show. He first made his way as a player through the forties, playing alto saxophone and clarinet with a great many big bands, including Les Brown, Freddie Slack, Tommy Dorsey, and others. He studied composition and conducting at UCLA, joined a bebop era Red Norvo Quintet (with whom he recorded), and evolved into a film/tv composer and also a very well regarded sideman (on clarinet and alto saxophone).

As a television composer, he was prolific. Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Man From U.N.C.L.E. all boasted great Drasnin scores, and such giants as Johnny Mandel and Jerry Goldsmith considered him an equal. Rightfully.

In September 2014, fans in the Los Angeles area gathered for The Golden Anniversary Affair, celebrating U.N.C.L.E.’s 50th anniversary. A highlight was a band playing music from the series. Frank Abe, who attended, posted this video of the band playing a piece of Drasnin’s first U.N.C.L.E. score for The Foxes and Hounds Affair.