25 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About James Bond

He's the most iconic character in cinema, he's best mates with the Queen and he's been in more movies than Freddy Krueger, Harry Potter and Iron Man combined, yet still James Bond remains something of a mystery. There are only a few things that everyone knows about 007 – his favourite gun, how he mixes his drinks, that he's a wildcat in the sack – but he famously steers clear of Hello! Magazine photospreads and he's rarely seen on the cover of heat. So join us as we attempt to throw some light on Blighty's foremost secret agent ahead of the release of Skyfall, with 25 things you (probably) didn't know about James Bond.

1. Shaken, Not Stirred

Bond's preferred tipple in Ian Fleming's first Bond book, Casino Royale, was the Vesper Martini – part gin, part vodka and a touch of Lillet Blanc wine. However, when it came to filming the first Bond movie, Dr. No, Smirnoff paid to have their vodka promoted, meaning they didn't want the gin mentioned. Bond's brand of booze quickly caught on and changed cocktail culture forever.

2. Bond The Boffin

According to Bond lore, young James was briefly educated at Eton, before going on to study at Fettes College in Edinburgh, a public school which was attended by Ian Fleming himself, and some bloke called Tony Blair. As unlikely as it sounds, Sean Connery was once the school's milkman ("I'll have a pint. Skimmed… not semi-skimmed").

3. Britain's Finest

The best of Blighty is actually half Scottish and half Swiss. In the Bond novels, James' parents – Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix-Bond – die in a climbing accident in the French Alps, orphaning him at the age of 11. He then went to live with his aunt in a small village near Kent called Pett Bottom, which perhaps explains his attitude towards women.

4. The Basis For Bond

Author Ian Fleming based 007 on a number of different spies – not to mention his own experiences, given that he served as a Naval Intelligence Officer during WWII – but the biggest inspiration for Bond was English polymath John Dee. An all-round genius and 16th century badass, Dee would sign his letters to monarch Elizabeth I with a '007' glyph, signifying they were for her eyes only.

5. Tux Cuts

Fifth Bond Pierce Brosnan was long pursued by the Eon producers for the role, but the character is bigger than any single actor's career prospects. When he signed his contract for GoldenEye, Brosnan was informed that, though he was free to pursue other additional roles in-between Bond movies, the actor could not appear in another film wearing a tuxedo.

6. Names Bond

When it came to giving his secret agent a name, Fleming wanted a "flat, quiet" name, aiming to make him an "extremely dull, uninteresting" man to whom interesting things happened. Fleming spotted an ornithology book, 'Birds Of The West Indies' by James Bond, and thought: "By God… it's the dullest name I ever heard." Clearly he'd never seen snooker played Nigel Bond in action.

7. Bond's Blueprint

Among the other inspirations for the character of James Bond was Ian Fleming's beloved elder brother Peter, a journeyed travel writer and explorer. Another Bond-esque figure thought to be factored into 007's DNA was a British intelligence officer and MI6 station head in Paris – given point six above, we're lucky England's greatest secret agent didn't introduce himself as "Dunderdale… Wilfred "Biffy" Dunderdale."

8. Bond's Beef

It's as rare to see James Bond eating as it is to see Jack Bauer having a wee, but Ian Fleming detailed plenty of 007's eating habits in his books. Bond's favourite foods when off duty include grilled sole, oeufs en cocotte (eggs and crème fraîche to you and me) and cold roast beef with potato salad. We bet he puts away more than a few Maccy Ds on the road, though.

9. Meet Jimmy Bond

Sean Connery was not the first actor to play James Bond, and no, it wasn't Blockbusters host Bob Holness either. The first man to ever embody 007 was American actor Barry Nelson, who played card shark 'Jimmy Bond' in a terrible adaptation of Casino Royale for US TV. Nelson went on to play the manager of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.

10. For Your Size Only

It's quite possible the James Bond we know and love owes his popularity to leprechauns: producer Albert R. Broccoli hired Sean Connery for Dr. No after seeing him in Disney film Darby O'Gill And The Little People. Think that's weird? George Lazenby got the job after being spotted in an ad for Fry's Chocolate Cream.

11. Sex Bomb

A frisky blighter and no mistaking, James Bond has done more than his fair share of blowing away the stereotype that Brits are unadventurous lovers. Places where 007 has 'attempted re-entry' include a train, a plane, a forest, a stable, a motorised iceberg (obviously), a hospital, a submarine, a dinghy and a space shuttle. Whatever it takes to keep the British end up, dude.

12. Rank And File

Though his military rank is never explicitly detailed in the films, James Bond served as a Commander in the Royal Navy (he's referred to as such in A View To A Kill and GoldenEye) before he began working for the British Secret Service. When Bond fakes his death in You Only Live Twice, his 'funeral' looks awfully similar to a Navy burial at sea.

13. Bond's Birds

James Bond has been saving the world on screen for 50 years now, but his record with the ladies is even more impressive. Since the release of Dr. No in 1962, 007's bed post has been notched 52 times – each sexual partner boasting a name more ridiculous than the last. Around three-quarters of the ladies he's bedded have tried to kill him, which is about average, right guys? Guys?

14. Double-0 Also-Rans

We all know Bond's rank is 007, but what of the other 00-agents at MI6? Some are glimpsed in the movies – 002 is killed by The Man With The Golden Gun, 003 dies in the opening scenes of A View To A Kill, 004 eats it in The Living Daylights and 006 was Sean Bean – while others, such as the mythical 001, remain a mystery. Spare a thought for poor old 009, however – he was killed while dressed as a clown in Octopussy.

15. The Spy Who Killed Me

Across his 22 canonical films (Never Say Never Again and 1967's Casino Royale don't count), Bond has ended a whopping 352 lives. Pierce Brosnan is by far the deadliest Bond – he killed 47 people alone in GoldenEye – while Sean Connery was the biggest pacifist, dispatching a mere four men in Dr. No. Roger Moore did his fair share of death-dealing, but he only got to cap one ass in The Man With The Golden Gun, the lowest kill-count of any Bond movie.

16. Bond's Family Motto

Most Bond films get their titles from the original Ian Fleming novels, or incidental details relating to Fleming's personal life (GoldenEye was the name of his holiday house in Jamaica), but you may be wondering where the title The World Is Not Enough originates. Well, it's actually a translation of the Bond family motto, 'Orbit Non Sufficit'. Yeah, we thought it was better suited to supervillains too.

17. Bond's Favourite Game

To watch Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, you'd assume that poker – particular Texas Hold 'Em – was Bond's card game of choice. You'd be wrong. James' favourite card-based pastime is actually Baccarat; Connery plays a hand or two as far back as Dr. No, and Pierce Brosnan even gets in on the game in GoldenEye. Bond is also reportedly brilliant at Snap.

18. The Bond Homestead

He's stayed in some of the most luxurious hotels in the most exotic countries in the world, but where does Bond officially lay his hat? It hasn't been confirmed that it's officially his off-duty home, but Skyfall gets its name from Bond's ancestral home in Scotland: Skyfall Lodge. We hope he has insurance: the shot of Javier Bardem walking away from a flaming building in the trailer does not bode well.

19. The Bond Who Wasn't Bond

There's nothing more iconic in Bond lore than the opening gun barrel sequence, but did you know that the man who turns and shoots in the first three Bond movies isn't Sean Connery? It's actually stuntman Bob Simmons, whose silhouette was used by designer Maurice Binder when Connery was unavailable. Fun Bob Simmons fact: he was the man who pioneered the use of trampolines in the field of jumping away from explosions.

20. The Look Of Bond

Ever wondered how Fleming intended James Bond to look? On two occasions, Bond is remarked to resemble the American singer-songwriter Hoagy Carmichael (below), except with a "cruel mouth" and a "coldness in the eyes". Other physical details that have since been ditched include a three-inch scar on his cheek and the faint scar of a Russian Cyrillic letter carved onto his hand by a SMERSH agent who had marked him as a spy.

21. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

We all remember the needless furore surrounding the appointment of a blonde Daniel Craig as Bond in 2005, but more shocking is the fact that Sean Connery wore a toupee for every single one of his outings as 007. Did you know that by the time he starred in A View To A Kill in 1985, Roger Moore's hair had to be professionally thickened before each take?

22. The Bonds That Never Were

Only six men have been lucky enough to play James Bond on screen, but they leave in their wake a huddled mass of weeping actors denied their dream role. The men who almost played Bond include Eric Bana, Hugh Jackman, James Purefoy, Julian McMahon, Gerard Butler, Sam Neill, Clint Eastwood (!) and Dougray Scott, who famously lost the role of Wolverine early in the X-Men shoot too.

23. James Bond Jr.

No, not the short-lived (and terrible) cartoon: James Bond actually sired a child. At least, he did in Ian Fleming's version of You Only Live Twice, anyway: Bond gets Kissy Suzuki pregnant before departing for pastures new. In 1997, a short Bond story called Blast From The Past was published in Playboy, in which Bond's adult son contacts him from New York, only to be killed when his old man turns up for Dad duties. Nice one, pop.

24. The Name's Seagal… Steven Seagal

Bond learned from the best: Sean Connery's martial arts instructor on non-canon remake Never Say Never Again was none-other-than Steven Seagal, who accidentally broke Connery's wrist in training. Rumours that Seagal went on to yell "Who sent you? WHO SENT YOU?" are sadly unconfirmed.

25. Act Your Age

Technically, though the character did age accordingly throughout the Connery-Moore years (1962-85), Bond doesn't actually get older – unfortunately, the actors who play him do. Connery was 53 when he shot Never Say Never Again, while Roger Moore was 57 in A View To A Kill, bedding a girl almost 30 years his junior. Daniel Craig was the first Bond who was younger than the series itself.