Albert R. Broccoli memorial plaque unveiled in Berkshire
08-Apr-2009 • Bond News
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But on Monday 7 April 2009 the family of Bond producer Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli visited an altogether more serene location in leafy Wokingham.
Daughter Barbara Broccoli, herself a producer, and her half-brother Michael G Wilson unveiled a special plaque outside Glebelands, the film and TV industry retirement and care home.
Glebelands received a £1 million cash injection from the Albert R. Broccoli and Dana Broccoli Foundation, and the plaque officially marked the renaming of the Cloisters building at Glebelands as the Broccoli Cloisters.
As well as the inaugeration the Broccoli clan met up with residents and walked round the facilities.
Barbara Broccoli, who received an OBE for her services to the film industry, tells BBC Berkshire: "The Bond films were made in
Great Britain, they were started by my father Albert Broccoli, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1952 and felt England was home.
"He felt that he was very lucky and had a wonderful professional career here and always wanted to support the people in the industry that helped make him a successful producer."
She was joined by Samantha Bond, who played Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan, but also by Glebelands resident Lewis Gilbert, who directed You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
"And what fantastic films they turned out to be," he says, "and not because I directed them, but because Albert Broccoli produced them."
He adds: "I directed 40 films, but why is it that the three Bond films that I worked on - they live in my memory so much.
"It's because of something very unique in the film industry and that was Broccoli himself.
"I've made many films with every kind of producer that there was but Broccoli had something that was a very rare commodity as a film producer - he cared, he cared for the unit, he was unique in the way he behaved with the unit and the way the unit loved him.
"Units don't love the producer, he's there to bully them and make them work harder, but Broccoli had this unique way of talking to people, you knew he cared whether you were happy or unhappy."
Michael G Wilson, step-son of Cubby Broccoli and producer/ screenwriter of James Bond films, says that his step-father was actively involved in the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), which runs Glebelands:
"I think it's been fantastic to come out here and see this place, we met the residents, we looked in the rooms, this is something that Cubby and his wife Dana would've loved to have seen,
"They were always interested in the welfare of the people in the industry, they were always lending a helping hand.
"Cubby was a governor of the CTBF and this is something that he would have been very proud of."
Barbara adds: "I'm feeling very proud, today were are kicking off the Albert R Broccoli centenary year and I feel this is an appropriate way of doing it, and if he were here, this is what he'd be doing."
Broccoli's late wife Dana founded launched the foundation with Barbara and Michael. It supports the arts, children's services, medicine, and higher education.
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