Photos: Unpublished James Bond Audition Stills

This is a real treat!

Life magazine has dipped into their archives and found a series of photos of the final auditions for the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  Unknown Australian actor George Lazenby would land the role.  But now we have a chance to see images of the other actors auditioning for the coveted part.

John Richardson was the most experienced actor of the bunch, getting some attention for his roles in in the Hammer productions of  She and One Million Years B.C. Here we see him testing for a love scene.

Anthony Rogers had recently appeared in Camelot.  But, after this screen test, he would disappear into obscurity, never to land another acting role again.  Here we see his take on Bondian smoking.

Robert Campbell was new to acting.  And here we see him being helped into a shoulder holster.

Hans de Vries would go on to career playing small roles in a variety of British television series.  But here all he seems to have on his mind is a Bondian lip-lock.

Finally, here’s the man who landed the role, George Lazenby, looking confident and relaxed.

You can see even more photos of these auditions here.

So, based on these photos, do you think they chose the best man for the role?