The James Bond franchise has existed for a very, very long time. Ian Fleming was the writer who first conceived of the character, jotting down his adventures in a series of well-received books. He also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The more you know.
Fleming didn’t live long enough to see many of his films make it to the big screen in their official capacity. As produced by Eon Productions. Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger were the only films released before his 1964 death. Since then, 22 more have appeared, with Daniel Craig’s fifth outing due for a 2020 release. We’ve averaged out the IMDb rating of the films of each actor to have portrayed James Bond and listed them all below.
Honorable Mention: Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson, technically, isn’t an official incarnation of Bond. He appeared on television screens way back in 1954, almost 10 years before the first Eon Productions film came out. This adaptation of Casino Royale appeared as an episode of anthology series Climax! and was lost soon after. Film historian Jim Schoenberger rediscovered it in 1981, reintroducing the world to the first on-screen portrayal of a now-legendary character.
Honorable Mention: David Niven
Also known for his work on a version of Casino Royale, David Niven was the other notably unofficial Bond actor. In 1967 (five years after the first official, Eon Productions Bond came out), a comedic version of Casino Royale was released. It didn’t exactly receive rave reviews, but its cast (which also included Peter Sellers and Orson Welles) and music by Burt Bacharach have been praised. Notably, before the end of the film almost every actor-- including Woody Allen-- is known as "James Bond, 007."
George Lazenby
We can now move on to the official ranking. At the bottom of our list comes George Lazenby. He is like the Paul McGann of the James Bond world. He had just one outing as the titular character, and people weren’t keen on it, or him.
Despite being the only Bond actor to receive a Golden Globe nomination, Lazenby’s performance was (and still is) panned. He was only 29 when he took on the role in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which might have accounted for his apparent lack of experience, but the film was still one of the most lucrative of the year.
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan was brought into the James Bond franchise almost as a backup. Timothy Dalton was expected to return for a third film after the success of his first two but ended up dropping out, with Brosnan being brought in to star in GoldenEye. He ended up starring in four Bond films, some of which endured as great, well-respected works of cinema, while others... didn’t. The World Is Not Enough, for example, received a Golden Raspberry nomination in 1999 and a pretty poor IMDB score, while Die Another Day was panned for its terrible CGI animation. GoldenEye, however, is remembered as a classic in the Bond canon. Overall, Brosnan was a decidedly average Bond actor, with a middle of the road career landing slap-bang in the middle of the Bond films’ existence.
Roger Moore
Roger Moore was the joint's most prolific Bond actor, having starred in seven features between 1973-1985. He was known for a laid-back approach, in which his good humor and womanizing became just as prominent in his character as his actual work as a secret agent. His first attempt was met with rather good reviews, with praise for the action scenes and Moore’s interpretation of Bond.
Things took a bit of a turn by the end, with viewers and critics panning Moore’s desire to stay on in the role despite being 58 years old in his final attempt, A View To A Kill. The laughs and one-liners were still there, but the action scenes simply didn’t have the bouncy youth of its predecessors.
Timothy Dalton
Interestingly, Timothy Dalton only played the suave spy twice. The Living Daylights in 1987 was quite well-received. It was produced by a family (all with the surname ‘Broccoli’, might I add), and was the last film to use an Ian Fleming title until the modern version of Casino Royale. License To Kill was also rather successful, leading to Dalton being remembered rather fondly for his portrayal.
He aimed for a much more realistic portrayal of the character than his predecessors, adding a dash of realism and seriousness to the character that contrasted the light-hearted womanizing ways of Roger Moore’s Bond. He specifically requested that the films avoided their more fantastical elements, which must have worked in his favor, as Roger Moore seemed very pleased with his work.
Daniel Craig
Since taking over from Pierce Brosnan back in 2005, Daniel Craig has led an incredible resurgence in the Bond franchise. Drawing theme songs from the likes of Adele and Billie Eilish, ensemble casts full of incredible actors and booming box office numbers, you’d sort of assume Craig would be in a good position on our list. And you’d be absolutely correct. He is the shortest Bond so far, and his appointment was controversial, but he has proven himself time and time again through the likes of Casino Royale and Skyfall. He balances the role's trademark humor with an impressive ability for action sequences, just like a good Bond should. He might have expressed disinterest in the role as well as a desire to step down, but he hasn’t done it yet.
Sean Connery
The undoubtedly greatest James Bond actor of all time is the original: Sean Connery. He was the standard by which everyone else had to judge themselves. He provided the first major interpretation of his personality, and as such, he was Bond.
Standing front and center in the inimitable Goldfinger, Connery embodied everything that defines Bond. He was the one to ask for his martini shaken not stirred, he was the one who got his hands on all sorts of impressive gadgets for the first time, he was the one who drove around in an incredible Aston Martin. There is no denying that Connery did Bond the best.