"This never happened to the other fellow,” George Lazenby said as James Bond in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Lazenby’s Bond was a one-and-done deal, making the first and only Australian Bond the only actor to get a single crack at the job. Still, the iconic line launched the theory that “James Bond” was a code name, making sense of this eternally youthful sex machine who doesn’t have a lick of chlamydia. Unfortunately for Mr. Lazenby, though, what he’s going through now happens to every fellow.Taking to Twitter, the preferred retirement announcement platform for all octogenarians, Lazenby handed in his Walther PPK and laser watch. “This hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s time to announce my retirement from work,” Lazenby said. The former Bond noted that this retirement includes acting, public appearances, interviews, or autographs. We assume this means no more signing headshots of Sean Connery, too, as a post-Bond Roger Moore was known to do. “It’s been a fun ride but getting older is no fun,” wrote Lazenby, eliciting a hardy “ain’t that the truth” from just about anyone reading it.Lazenby thanked his manager and friend, Anders Frejdh, who has worked with the actor since 2013, and said he would spend his time with his family from now on. “My sincere gratitude to everyone out there for your love and support over the years. It has meant a lot to me.”As has been the case for virtually all the Bond actors, Lazenby never shed his MI6 history. After declining to return for another go at those pesky Commies, Lazenby left the spy world for a marketplace hostile to shagadelic secret agents. Despite parts in a well-reviewed mercenary-with-a-conscience movie Universal Soldier, the Giallo slasher Who Saw Her Die, and several Golden Harvest martial arts pictures, Lazenby couldn’t climb back to his former heights. However, he did spend 1993 starring in seven Emmanuelle TV movies, so it’s not like he wasn’t working. Over time, his Bond turn grew in favorability. In 2017, he was the subject of the Hulu docudrama Becoming Bond, chronicling his career as Bond and beyond.Though his time as 007 was brief, Lazenby’s turn would eventually become a low-key cool guy pick for the best Bond, with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service being a prime influence on Daniel Craig’s run. Namely, his “other fellow” line hinted at continuity between movies as the pitch-black ending pushed the series into more severe and adult terrain. “We have all the time in the world” is the saddest final moment in any Bond movie—and that includes the most recent entry where James Bond died, and nobody seemed to notice or care. It's a testament to Lazenby that after six bonds and nearly 30 movies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service remains a high point for the series.
