Kevin McClory

Kevin McClory
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Name	Kevin McClory
Birth date	8 June 1924
Birth place	Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland
Death date	20 November 2006 (aged 82)
Death place	London, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Film producer, screenwriter, director
Known for	Involvement in the James Bond franchise

Kevin McClory was an Irish film producer, screenwriter, and director whose career became inextricably linked to the James Bond franchise through a complex series of collaborations and legal disputes. His most significant contribution was the development of the SPECTRE organization and the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, concepts central to the Ian Fleming universe. McClory's protracted legal battles with Eon Productions and the Fleming family over the rights to these ideas shaped the production history of the 007 film series for decades.

Early life and career

Born in Dún Laoghaire, he developed an early interest in maritime adventures, later serving with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War. After the war, he moved to London and began working in the film industry, initially finding work on documentaries. His big break came when he was hired as a second-unit director on the John Huston film Moby Dick, filmed in Youghal, County Cork. This experience led him to form a production company and develop projects, including an ambitious, unfilmed adaptation of The Boy and the Bridge. His work brought him into contact with figures like Ivar Bryce and Ernest Cuneo, connections that would prove pivotal for his future.

Collaboration on James Bond

In the late 1950s, he collaborated with Ian Fleming and screenwriter Jack Whittingham on a film treatment originally titled James Bond of the Secret Service. This project, intended as Columbia Pictures' first 007 film, was largely developed at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. The treatment introduced the global criminal syndicate SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and featured a plot involving the hijacking of NATO and Western nuclear weapons. When the film project stalled, Fleming novelized the story without permission, publishing it as Thunderball in 1961, which led to immediate legal action.

Legal battles and rights

He filed a High Court lawsuit against Ian Fleming and his publishers, Glidrose Publications. The 1963 settlement granted him significant film rights to the Thunderball story, making him a co-creditor of the novel. This victory allowed him to produce the 1965 Eon Productions film Thunderball, starring Sean Connery, which became a massive commercial success. He retained the underlying rights to the specific plot, characters, and concepts from that treatment. In 1983, after years of development attempts, he independently produced Never Say Never Again, a rival 007 film starring a returning Sean Connery, through his company Taliafilm, creating a unique clash with the official Eon Productions series.

Later life and death

Following Never Say Never Again, he continued to develop projects based on his rights, often in conflict with MGM and Danjaq. He lived for many years in County Meath, Ireland, at Killeen Castle. In his final years, he was involved in further legal negotiations regarding the future of the SPECTRE and Blofeld characters. He died in 2006 at a hospital in London after a long illness, survived by his wife and children. His death came just as a new era of negotiations over the James Bond franchise rights began.

Legacy

His legacy is a complex and contentious chapter in the history of British cinema. The legal rights he secured influenced the James Bond film series for over forty years, preventing Eon Productions from using SPECTRE and Blofeld until a settlement was reached long after his death. The 2015 film Spectre finally reintegrated these elements into the official canon. His career underscores the intricate issues of intellectual property and adaptation in Hollywood, and his fight remains a famous case study in entertainment law.

Category:Irish film producers Category:James Bond people Category:2006 deaths