Timothy Dalton

Timothy Peter Dalton (born 21 March 1946) is an English actor. Green eyed Timothy Dalton known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights in 1987 and Licence to Kill in 1989, as well as Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre in 1983, Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett in 1994 in, and Simon Skinner in Hot Fuzz in 2007. He may very well be one of the last of the dying breed of swashbuckling, classically trained Shakespearean actors who have forged simultaneous successful careers in theater, television and film.

Timothy Dalton had been considered for the role of James Bond for many times. According to the documentary Inside The Living Daylights, the producers first approached Dalton in 1968 for On Her Majesty's Secret Service although Dalton himself in this same documentary claims the approach occurred when he was either 24 or 25 and had already done the film Mary, Queen of Scots in 1971. Dalton told the producers that he was too young for the role. In a 1987 interview, Dalton said, "Originally I did not want to take over from Sean Connery. He was far too good, he was wonderful. I was about 24 or 25, which is too young. But when you've seen Bond from the beginning, you don't take over from Sean Connery."

Despite signing on for 3 bond films, a lawsuit between MGM and the film’s producers that lasted several years caused the third bond film to be canceled. When the issue was finally resolved, Timothy Dalton had lost interest in portraying the character and announced he would not do the third film.

Personal Quotes 

• On playing a character: You can't relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle. Real courage is knowing what faces you and knowing how to face it.
• I don't think I've drunk one since I've left the Bond movies. Every bar you go in, there's always some wisecrack, "Oh, yours will be a Martini, shaken, not stirred!" You get sick and tired of that. - on all of the vodka martinis he would get whenever he walked into a bar, while he was playing Bond.
• I felt as free as a bird. - describing driving down Sunset Boulevard and seeing a billboard that had Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan on it, but no Timothy Dalton.
• It's very important to make the man believable so that you can stretch the fantasy. Whether people like this kind of Bond is another question. (on his approach to the role of James Bond)
• When I saw those posters of Pierce standing there, I suddenly thought to myself, Jesus, I don't have to stand there with a gun to the side of my head anymore! I suddenly found the most tremendous sense of liberation, and I started to feel more like myself than I'd felt in years! I suddenly felt free! (describing his feelings on whether or not in retrospect he made the right decision not to make the James Bond film GoldenEye (1995))
• I don't think that Bond is a role model or that he should be a role model. He's only part of a particular kind of story. I don't think anyone should grow up wanting to go around killing people. I don't think anyone should grow up wanting to be a secret agent.
  
• Roger Moore was brilliant but the movies had gone a long way from their roots; they had drifted in a way that was chalk and cheese to Sean. And I think Daniel Craig will work well. I think he's going to be terrific, he's got danger and vulnerability.
  
• He's terrific. I think Casino Royale (2006) is a huge step forward - a leap forward. It's great and Daniel's great. He got a lot of stick when he was doing it. There was a lot of negative press. He was criticized by people who didn't have a clue what was in the script or what he was going to look like in the film, which was deeply unfair. I said how wrong everyone was at the time because he's a very gifted actor. I'm pleased that the movie turned out as well as it did.
  
• There was a time when Sean Connery gave up the role. I guess I, alongside quite a few other actors, was approached about the possibility of playing the part. That was for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). I was very flattered, but I think anybody would have been off their head to have taken over from Connery. I was also too young. Bond should be a man in his mid-thirties, at least - a mature adult who has been around. I was not approached for Live and Let Die (1973), but there was a time in the late 1970s, when Roger may not have done another one, for whatever reason. They were looking around then, and I went to see Mr. Broccoli in Los Angeles. At that time, they didn't have a script finished and also, the way the Bond movies had gone - although they were fun and entertaining - weren't my idea of Bond movies. They had become a completely different entity. I know Roger, and think he does a fantastic job, but they were different kinds of movies. Roger is one of the only people in the world who can be fun in the midst of all that gadgetry. But in truth my favorite Bond movies were always Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and Goldfinger (1964).
• [on GoldenEye (1995)] I was supposed to make one more but it was cancelled because MGM and the film's producers got into a lawsuit which lasted for five years. After that, I didn't want to do it anymore.
  
  The 2 Bond films he did complete and his salary:
  The Living Daylights (1987) - $3,000,000
  Licence to Kill (1989) - $5,000,000