The James Bond role is what made Sean Conery, or mostly so, and it is the role that every actor wants to play. Nonetheless, there was once a young model named George Lazenby who found himself playing the role only to reject it after playing just one because the producers wouldn’t take his input. Many thought he was foolish and would not go far in the film business but many years later, Lazenby has not only remained in the industry, but he has grown significantly, leaving many to wonder where he would have been if he had continued playing Bond… James Bond.
George Lazenby’s Biography, Age
The actor was born George Robert Lazenby on 5 September 1939 in Australia, Goulburn, New South Wales. While his father George Edward Lazenby was a railway worker, his mother Sheila Joan Lazenby worked with the store, Fosseys.
Raised with a sister who later became a dancer, he had his education from the Goulburn Public School and later the Goulburn High School before his family moved to Queanbeyan.
Acting did not come as the first choice for George who was first a used car salesman and later, he sold new cars. It was at this time in Finchley London, where he moved following a woman he loved that he was sighted by a talent scout who convinced him to work as a model, something he accepted.
With his modeling career on the rise, the Australian model landed the role to play James Bond in the classic On Her Majesty’s Secret Service movie in 1969. What makes this very interesting is that it was the first time that anyone with no prior acting experience would be considered and taken for the big role. This was thanks to his ability to lie his way through the audition, claiming to be a seasoned actor.
After playing the 007 role, that became the only time he would take the role because a lot of things were different with him, leading to his popular line in the movie; “this didn’t happen to the other fella”. That was one of his complaints while shooting the role and the producers had him very hard to work with. On his part, it would be better for George Lazenby to return to selling cars than to act on any other James Bond movie.
However, he got a role in Universal Soldier (1971) and then Who Saw Her Die? in 1972. It was then revealed that in 1973, he was flat broke, forcing him to go to Hong Kong where he met and was supposed to appear in a movie with him before the sudden death of Lee. In fact, the two actors were supposed to have dinner on that day to discuss their movie together, Game of Death.
From then on, Lazenby continued with many other roles, getting back to the ladder with many movies to his name with the most recent as A Winter Rose (2014) and Hunter (2015).
Net Worth
The important thing to know is that George Lazenby did not set out to be an actor or even a model which began it all. However, since finding his way in, he has not done badly for himself becoming one of the first male models to receive £8 a day when others were taking home the standard £4 a day.
With that said, George Lazenby has a net worth which is estimated at $20 million. He made most of his fortune as an actor. While this is a very significant fortune, it only leaves many wondering what it would have been worth had he continued playing , a role that has opened more doors for many actors and has helped others like Sean Connery and Roger Moore whose net worth has gone into hundreds of millions.
Wife and Children
Twice, thus far, is the number of times that George Lazenby has been married with both marriages ending in divorces.
The first woman he married was Chrissie Townsend in 1973, but the marriage did not survive for more than 3 years before it ended. The union had two children; Zachary and Melanie to show although Zachary died when he was 19 following a malignant brain tumor.
It was until 2002 that George would get married again, this time around it was to Pamela Shriver. After having three children between them, their marriage hit the rocks in 2008 when the former tennis player filed for a divorce against her husband claiming that she had suffered physical and emotional abuse from the actor.
Height
George Lazenby is a man with good height and body build that has made it possible for him to succeed in his early days as a model. He has a height of 6ft 1 ¾ (187.3 cm).
Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.
