The 20 All-Time Greatest James Bond Villains (Men & Women)
by HardToFindMovies | created - 05 Feb 2014 | updated - 05 Feb 2014 | PublicSome of these villains starred in their Bond picture, others had smaller parts but all of these actors shined in their roles and the characters they created on screen were truly unforgettable. The actors are listed in the order of their performances with the best being #1 and going through #20. This list is for light enjoyment and comments are welcome. I am sorry I could not include the numerous other excellent Bond villains that truly deserve strong recognition for their work. Enjoy.
1. Christopher Lee
Actor | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it ...
Played the role of Francisco Scaramanga in 'The Man With The Golden Gun' 1974.
2. Robert Shaw
Actor | Jaws
Robert Archibald Shaw was born on August 9, 1927, in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England, the eldest son of Doreen Nora (Avery), a nurse, and Thomas Archibald Shaw, a doctor. His paternal grandfather was Scottish, from Argyll. Shaw's mother, who was born in Piggs Peak, Swaziland, met his father while...
Played the role of Donald 'Red' Grant in 'From Russia With Love' 1963.
3. Robert Davi
Actor | Die Hard
Robert Davi is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, director, producer and jazz vocalist.
From his portrayal of the opera singing baddie in "The Goonies" and one of the most popular James Bond villains Franz Sanchez in "License to Kill" to FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in "Die Hard" or Al Torres in ...
Played the role of Franz Sanchez in 'Licence To Kill' 1989.
4. Louis Jourdan
Actor | Gigi
Louis Jourdan was born Louis Robert Gendre in Marseille, France to Yvonne (née Jourdan) and hotel owner Henry Gendre. He was educated in France, Britain, and Turkey. He trained as an actor with René Simon at the École Dramatique. He debuted on screen in 1939, going on to play cultivated, polished, ...
Played the role of Kamal Khan in 'Octopussy' 1983.
5. Robert Carlyle
Actor | The Full Monty
Robert Carlyle was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, to Elizabeth, a bus company employee, and Joseph Carlyle, a painter and decorator. He was raised by his father after his mother left him when he was four. At the age of 21, after reading Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," he enrolled in acting ...
Played the role of Victor 'Renard' Zokas in 'The World Is Not Enough' 1999.
6. Donald Pleasence
Actor | Halloween II
Balding, quietly spoken, of slight build and possessed of piercing blue eyes -- often peering out from behind round, steel-rimmed glasses -- Donald Pleasence had the essential physical attributes which make a great screen villain. In the course of his lengthy career, he relished playing the ...
Played the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in 'You Only Live Twice' 1967.
7. Curd Jürgens
Actor | The Spy Who Loved Me
Curd Jürgens (commonly billed as "Curt Jurgens" in anglophone countries) was one of the most successful European film actors of the 20th Century. He was born Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens on December 13, 1915, in Solln, Bavaria, in Hohenzollern Imperial Germany, a subject of Kaiser ...
Played the role of Karl Stromborg in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' 1977.
8. Yaphet Kotto
Actor | Alien
Physically imposing, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Gladys, a nurse and army officer, and Abraham Kotto, a businessman-turned-construction worker. His father was a ...
Played the dual roles of Kaganga & Mr. Big in 'Live And Let Die' 1973.
9. Barbara Carrera
Actress | Never Say Never Again
Barbara Carrera was born Barbara Kingsbury on December 31, 1945 in Bluefields, Nicaragua. This stunning former model became best known for her screen performances playing a sinister femme fatale. In doing so, she has achieved minor cult status and has quite a loyal fanbase. The tall and tanned ...
Played the role of Fatima Blush in 'Never Say Never Again' 1983.
10. Famke Janssen
Actress | X-Men: The Last Stand
Famke Janssen was born November 5, 1964, in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, and has two other siblings. Moving to America in the 1980s, she modeled for Chanel in New York. Later, taking a break from modeling, she attended Columbia University, majoring in literature.
This model-turned-actress broke into...
Played the role of Xenia Onatopp in 'GoldenEye' 1995.
11. Gert Fröbe
Actor | Goldfinger
Tall, portly built German born actor (and talented violinist) who notched up over 100 film appearances, predominantly in German-language productions. He will forever be remembered by Western audiences as the bombastic megalomaniac "Auric Goldfinger" trying to kill Sean Connery and irradiate the ...
Played the role of Auric Goldfinger in 'Goldfinger' 1964.
12. Jonathan Pryce
Actor | The Two Popes
Jonathan Pryce was born on June 1, 1947 in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Two Popes (2019), The Wife (2017) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). He has been married to Kate Fahy since April 2015. They have three children.
Played the role of Elliot Carver in 'Tomorrow Never Dies' 1997.
13. Lotte Lenya
Actress | From Russia with Love
Lotte Lenya was a Tony Award-winning and Academy award-nominated actress and singer. While best remembered in the U.S. for her supporting role as Rosa Klebb in the classic Bond film From Russia with Love (1963), she is celebrated in Germany for her ground-breaking performances in the plays of Kurt ...
Played the role of Rosa Klebb in 'From Russia With Love' 1963.
14. Bruce Glover
Actor | Diamonds Are Forever
An instinct for acting showed very early for Bruce. In 1935, aged 3, he distracted his mother from the worries of Depression Era Chicago by recreating stuff they'd seen at the movies like FDR struggling to walk, putting his little body thru it, to try to understand by experiencing it. A knack for ...
Played the role of Mr. Wint (the short guy) in 'Diamonds Are Forever' 1971.
15. Putter Smith
Actor | Diamonds Are Forever
A jazz bassist turned actor, Putter Smith got his breakthrough role as the henchman Mr. Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) after producer Harry Saltzman spot him at a Thelonious Monk concert. He and Bruce Glover as Mr. Wint give a lot of trouble to his victims and to James Bond as well. The role ...
Played the role of Mr. Kidd (the tall guy in glasses) in 'Diamonds Are Forever' 1971.
16. Sophie Marceau
Actress | La boum
Sophie Marceau was born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu in Paris, France, to Simone (Morisset), a shop assistant, and Benoît Maupu, a truck driver. She grew up far from the studio spotlights. When she was 14 she was living in the Paris suburb of Gentilly with her father. She learned from friends that ...
Played the role of Electra King in 'The World Is Not Enough' 1999.
17. Toby Stephens
Actor | Die Another Day
Toby Stephens began his acting career while a stagehand at the Chichester Festival Theatre, in end-of-season productions mounted by the crew. In his brief professional career, he has already won the Sir John Gielgud Prize for Best Actor and the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in the title ...
Played the role of Gustav Graves in 'Die Another Day' 2002
18. Steven Berkoff
Actor | Octopussy
Highly acclaimed English actor, playwright, author and director continues to set the benchmark in stunning, intense performances on both stage and screen. Berkoff was born in Stepney, London in August 1937 and received dramatic arts training in both Paris and London and then moved on to performing ...
Played the role of General Orlov in 'Octopussy' 1983.
19. Kabir Bedi
Actor | Octopussy
Kabir Bedi is one of India's most famous international actors, with a career that spans from Bollywood to Hollywood and Europe, in films, television, theatre, and radio.
Kabir's Italian series "SANDOKAN" made him a major star across all of Europe.
He starred in one of the world's most-watched TV ...
Played the role of Gobinda (Huge Man in Turban as Khan's bodyguard) in 'Octopussy' 1983.
20. Charles Gray
Actor | Diamonds Are Forever
The son of a surveyor, Charles Gray was born and raised in Queen's Park, Bournemouth. As a young actor, he received his vocal training from the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Old Vic, having long abandoned his first job as clerk for a real estate agent. His voice was to...
Played the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in 'Diamonds Are Forever' 1971.
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