From the Mail Bag

I received an email yesterday from Chris Wright, who runs the wonderful website FelixLeiter.com (along with Hunter Graybeal). He had some comments, corrections, and insights about my Felix Leiter post.

I'm quoting some of it here with his permission:

Donald,

Sorry for the delay in my response but I wanted to wait until I had
time to send you a proper reply. I'm so glad that you enjoyed
FelixLeiter.com! Since Leiter is such a small part of James Bond
fandom, I always appreciate getting feedback.

Thank you very much for linking to us in your wonderful blog post and
I will be sure to post an article linking to your post ASAP. I don't
really consider myself a Felix Leiter expert because I haven't read
all the Ian Fleming novels but I do own the only Felix Leiter website
in the world so I have a few nitpicky complains about your article
(sorry in advance!):

"Today, I'm going to be talking about nobody's favorite Bond character
Felix Leiter."

This saddens me because he's my favorite character after James Bond
and many Bond fans' favorite ally.

Donald: Oops. I obviously didn't mean any offense to Felix Leiter nor to any of his devoted fans. I was mostly being facetious. He's one of my favorite characters too! I was mostly making a joke on how he has been so important to the series, and yet only the most hardcore fans recognize his name. It saddens me too.

Cec Linder:

Jack Lord is actually one year older than Linder!

You just blew my mind! Well, Lord definitely aged a little more... gracefully. 

"Actually, it's not even clear who this version of Leiter is working
for, since he seems to take orders from M as well as from the
Americans."

Linder's Leiter is shown talking to M on the phone in his office near
the White House therefore he's working for the CIA, not M or his
Secret Intelligence Service.

Norman Burton:

"His performance was mostly notable only for being the first portrayal
of Leiter opposite new Bond Roger Moore."

Connery stars in 'Diamonds Are Forever', not Moore. David Hedison is
actually in Moore's debut film, 'Live and Let Die'.

Yeah, I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I wrote that. For some reason I went back to edit my post, and got all mixed up. I apologize for any confusion this caused. Good catch, thanks. I changed my post.

Also, the film 'Licence to Kill' is spelled the British way, even when
it was released in the United States.

Damn it! Another detail I shouldn't have overlooked. It's funny that after all these years, I've never noticed the spelling of the title. 

Other than these minor things, your article was fantastic. I
appreciate you dedicating an article to an under appreciated character
like Felix Leiter. I like how you mentioned Michael Pate (he actually
played "Clarence" Leiter, a British agent against Jimmy Bond, an
American agent).

Did you know that Leiter had a son named Gordo in the 1991 children's
cartoon, 'James Bond Jr.'? This is relevant to the films because it
was produced by Eon Productions and MGM during the legal issues of the
early-1990s. They couldn't make a James Bond film until 1995 so they
used their highly profitable property on television.

I did not know that! Sounds... interesting. I'll have to track that show down and check it out. Gordo Leiter? That's just weird.

Best regards,

Chris Wright
Executive Editor, FelixLeiter.com

Thanks, Chris! Thanks for checking out my blog, thanks for taking the time to write that email, and, most of all, thanks for running the world's only Felix Leiter website.