The nearly-60-year-old James Bond series has featured many recurring performers, and fans might like to remember how often they've seen each actor. Some actors played more than one role in the series, but the most well-known actors in the series kept coming back as the same classic character.
While the main James Bond actors are well-known, a few stars of the series have decades of Bond appearances to their names. The main Bond series is comprised of the 25 Eon-produced films, and it doesn't count the 1967 Casino Royale spoof or 1983's Never Say Never Again. In these films, these actors gave career-defining performances that helped make the Bond series thrive in two separate centuries.
10 Robert Brown - 5 Movies
Robert Brown played M in 4 movies, from 1983's Octopussy to 1989's Licence to Kill. Brown played a different character named Hargreaves in The Spy Who Loved Me, who was an ally to M. It's believed Hargreaves becomes M in Octopussy, much like how Mallory became M in Skyfall.
Brown took over as M from the original actor, Bernard Lee. In his appearance as Hargreaves, his character is still an ally to Lee's M. Brown played M for Roger Moore's last two movies and both of Timothy Dalton's movies. 5 of Brown's last 10 movies were Bond movies before his retirement.
9 Daniel Craig - 5 Movies
With No Time to Die, Daniel Craig became the third James Bond actor with at least 5 appearances. Unlike the other actors, Daniel Craig's time as Bond is a self-contained story and isn't meant to be in the same chronology as the previous 20 movies. Craig also held the role for the longest amount of time, with 15 years stretching from 2006's Casino Royale to 2021's No Time to Die.
Craig became known as a grittier, more human Bond than the preceding actors. Many have listed Craig as equal to or greater than the original Bond, Sean Connery. While another actor will eventually be cast, Craig has been the Bond of a generation, and no one but him has held the role in the previous 19 years.
8 Geoffrey Keen - 6 Movies
Geoffrey Keen played Sir Frederick Gray, the British Minister of Defense. He appeared in the role for 6 consecutive films, from 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me to 1987's The Living Daylights. Gray was often seen working with Bond, M, and Tanner as another representative of the British government.
Keen acted in 100 films over a 44-year career. Like Robert Brown with M, Frederick Gray defined the last decade of Keen's career, representing 6 of his last 10 movie roles. Keen retired from acting in 1991, and he died in 2005 at age 89.
7 Sean Connery - 6 Movies
Sean Connery was the original James Bond. He played the role for the first 5 Bond movies, starting with 1962's Dr. No. He returned once more for the 7th film, 1971's Diamond Are Forever. While he did reprise the role in 1983's Never Say Never Again, that film wasn't one of the official Eon-produced Bond movies and was rather a remake of Thunderball.
Connery and his Bond movies set the tone for who 007 was, and the role also defined his career. He did hate the idea of being typecast because of the role, and his other roles in the 60s were far from spy characters. George Lucas had based Indiana Jones off of James Bond, and when it came time to cast Jones' father, Connery was a perfect choice.
6 Walter Gotell - 7 Movies
Walter Gotell appeared in 2 different roles in the series. He first played Morzeny in From Russia with Love. He then played KGB leader General Gogol in the same 6 movies as Geoffrey Keen. With the Cold War informing many Bond plots during that time, Gogol was a key part for Gotell during those 10 years. Gogol wasn't necessarily a villain, and he was sometimes shown working with M.
Gotell was of German origin, and he often played German characters outside of his role as Gogol. He was one of a few actors to play multiple roles in the series. Others include Anthony Dawson as Professor Dent and the first Blofeld, Charles Gray as Henderson and the third Blofeld, and Joe Don Baker as Whitaker and Wade.
5 Roger Moore - 7 Movies
Roger Moore still holds the record for playing James Bond the most in the official Eon series. Moore first played 007 in 1973's Live and Let Die, and stayed in the role until 1985's A View to a Kill. Moore's Bond and his movies were known for having a campier take overall, with Moore himself saying he mostly played it for laughs. His most serious Bond film was The Spy Who Loved Me, which is often listed among the best in the series.
Moore almost retired from the role twice before he finally did. Being 58 when he retired, Moore is the oldest actor to play Bond to date. While he continued to act until his death in 2017, Moore took 5 years off from acting after retiring from his most famous role.
4 Judi Dench - 8 Movies
Judi Dench first played M in 1995's GoldenEye. She stayed in the series through all of Pierce Brosnan's era, which ran to 2002. While the Daniel Craig Bond was a reboot of the series, Dench stayed on to play M through 3 of his films. Her cameo in the 4th Craig film, Spectre, made her just the 4th actor in the series to feature in 8 movies or more.
Dench's M and Craig's Bond had the closest relationship of any iterations of the characters, with her M almost being a mother-figure to Bond. Dench received rave reviews for her portrayal of the character, particularly in Skyfall. Dench's M featured more heavily in the plot of that film, as well as the Brosnan outing The World Is Not Enough.
3 Bernard Lee - 11 Movies
Bernard Lee played M for the first 11 Bond movies, from Dr. No to Moonraker. Lee was set to play M a 12th time in For Your Eyes Only, but he passed away before he could film his scenes. The role was left vacant for that film out of respect, and Robert Brown took it over in Octopussy.
Lee had an impressive 55-year acting career, first appearing on stage in 1926. Critics found his M to be very similar to how Ian Fleming wrote the character, with many agreeing Lee had the proper "no-nonsense" attitude for M.
2 Lois Maxwell - 14 Movies
Lois Maxwell was the original Moneypenny. She held the role for every one of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, and Roger Moore's Bond films. Maxwell originally took the role because she and her husband needed money after his heart attack. What started as a 2-day role turned into one that stretched over 23 years.
Lois Maxwell was the last cast member from Dr. No to leave the series, ending her time in the role with 1985's A View to a Kill. The only crew member to stay on the series longer than Maxwell was producer Albert R. Broccoli, whose last official Bond credit was GoldenEye. After her death in 2007, Roger Moore said she was wonderful to work with, and that he wished she'd been brought on as M for the Dalton movies.
1 Desmond Llewelyn - 17 Movies
Desmond Llewelyn was the second actor to play Q, aka Major Boothroyd. Peter Burton briefly played the role in Dr. No, with Llewelyn taking over in 1963's From Russia with Love. His traditional hilarious banter with Bond begins in Goldfinger, and it becomes a staple for the character from then on. His common catchphrase was "Now, pay attention," often uttered to a distracted 007.
The beloved actor played the role until 1999, only being absent from Live and Let Die. Llewelyn's last time playing Q was in The World Is Not Enough. Fittingly enough, the character is seen "retiring" in that film. His last line in the role after 36 years is, "Always have an escape plan," which he says after Bond asks if Q is really retiring. Fittingly, Q doesn't give a straight answer and lowers himself down into the floor.
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