Timothy Dalton officially announced as James Bond #4 exactly 20 years ago today

06-Aug-2006 • Actor News

On this day in 1986, Welsh actor Timothy Dalton was officially announced as the fourth James Bond 007.

On 6 August 1986, Eon announced that they had their new Bond - Welshman Timothy Dalton. Dalton won the approval of Sean Connery, who wished him well and gave his endorsement of the new Bond.

Before becoming 007, Dalton had had a distinguished stage, television and screen career stretching back two decades.

In 1968, he had auditioned for the role when Connery left, hoping to make his debut appearance as 007 in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969). Dalton had been approached by Broccoli again in 1982, when it looked like Moore was going to resist playing Bond again in "Octopussy" (1983).

Dalton starred as James Bond in "The Living Daylights" (1987) and "Licence To Kill" (1989).

Not long after "Licence To Kill" was released, Broccoli put Eon's parent company, Danjaq, up for sale. What happened next was to keep Bond off the screens for another six years. During this period, Broccoli attempted to kickstart the 17th James Bond adventure a number of times, but ultimately, the legal wranglings stalled attempts at production until 1994.

Dalton's contract officially expired in 1993 (which was originally planned to be the year of his fourth film), the actor bowed out from the role gracefully in 1994.

Dalton said at the time, "Even though the (producers) have always made it clear to me that they want me to resume my role in their next James Bond feature, I have now made this difficult decision. As an actor, I believe it is now time to leave that wonderful image behind and accept the challenge of new oneâs."

Click here for a full retrospective on Timothy Dalton's era as 007.