On June 20, 1915, Terrence Young is born in Shanghai, China. Young’s career would span over six decades starting as a screenwriter and advancing to the director’s chair in 1948 with ‘Corridor of Mirrors’ (also the acting debut of Latch Key favorite Christopher Lee).
Young would go on to direct 38 films over his career, yet his most memorable films would be those he directed in the James Bond series for “Cubby” Broccoli.
Broccoli and Young collaborated before Bond when Cubby’s Warwick Productions asked Young to direct ‘The Red Beret’ in 1953 he would also go on to work with a relative unknown actor from Edinburgh named Sean Connery in 1958’s ‘Action of the Tiger’.
These forces would combine in historic fashion with 1962’s ‘Dr. No’ which would kick off the most successful franchise in movie history.
Young would direct three of the first four Bond movies with ‘From Russia With Love’ and ‘Thunderball’ joining the aforementioned ‘Dr. No’ and setting the standard for all Bond movies that followed.
Upon selection of Sean Connery many were concerned, including Bond creator Ian Fleming, that Connery was too “rough around the edges” to play the suave 007.
Terrence Young is credited 100% in creating the air of sophistication that Connery would embody during his run in the series.
In fact, it was Young who would take Connery under his wing and introduce him to his tailor Anthony Sinclair on London’s Conduit Street securing Bond’s signature fashion sense.
From gambling to wine Young was Bond and Bond was Young, he even checked off the WW2 box as he was a tank commander in the Irish Guard where he saw combat during the historic operation Market Garden in The Netherlands.
Want to learn more about Terry Young and 007? Check out The Latch Key Kids Season One Podcast Series “Breaking Bond”
You can find EVERY season of The Latch Key Kids Presents Podcasts on Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts on iTunes!