James Bond has had a lot of women, and nearly as many men, too. No, we are not trying to insinuate his sexual orientation. We are merely saying that indeed, James Bond has tangled with many foes. And there was a sex joke in there, too. What!?
Anyway, here is a list of our Top 5 favorite henchmen. Enjoy.
5. Nick Nack
Nick Nack was a tiny, tiny henchman that appeared in Man With The Golden Gun, starring Roger Moore as Bond. His appearance resembles a tiny Charles Bronson, so that makes the performance even better. There is even a tattoo shop in Portland, Oregon that has in its “tattoos we’ve drawn for people” book of his tiny self prclaiming “De Plane!” (“The Plane!” pronounced the way he says it). It is the coolest tattoo you should never get unless you are into very obscure Bon references. The actor was Hervé Villechaize, himself a tiny actor, and apparently a wonderful drunk who once held his agent hostage at gun point in a Hollywood restaurant.
4. Odd Job
Odd Job was a beefy Asian dude with a penchant for throwing his wardrobe, namely, a very sharp bowler hat. His aim was great; his lines, not so much. Mostly relegated to grunts and a few simple lines, Odd Job was hardly a Shakespearean role, but Harold Sakata made it one of the more intimidating Bond henchmen in the franchise simply by his sheer physicality of the role.
3. Boris Grishenko
Boris was played by Alan Cumming in Goldeneye, one of the best grossing Bond movies of the series. Alan is a classically trained actor and brought to the role of “techie Russian nerd” a whole other level of nerd-dom that included countless boob jokes and a style of dress that more insinuates Summer Camp Counselor than Evil Russian Guy. It makes the almost throwaway character stand out hugely even in the midst of a big action film such as Goldeneye; Alan’s performance turned him from a bit part dweller into one of Hollywood’s best character actors out there.
2. May Day
May Day was played by infamous 80′s night-life personality Grace Jones. Grace found her way not only as a model but as a singer of disco and electro songs popular in the New York dance and club scene of the early 80′s – so her somewhat gender-non-centric role as a Bond villain stands out if you know a little bit about her history. Her character is one of the few to ever switch sides, and what’s more, actually sacrifice herself for Bond. A View To A Kill may not be one of the most popular James Bond movies but Grace turns the role into something more than just another pretty face for Bond. She made it into arguably one of the better Bond sub-characters in the franchise itself.
1. Jaws
Jaws was one hell of a big dude. Not only was the actor – Mr Richard Kiel – a gigantic man at over 7 ft tall – but on screen as well, Jaws was a gigantic on screen personality. He’s one of the only “evil” characters to come back for a 2nd Bond movie, appearing first in The Spy Who Loved Me but was so beloved by audiences that he came back for a (somewhat more cuddly version of the character) in Moonraker. In Moonraker he even finds love in a blonde pigtailed nerd gal – it just goes to show that while the good guy always gets the girl, that the bad guy with a heart of gold gets the girl in the end too.
Oddjob was the best character to pick on the Goldeneye, but we’d always outlaw him because it wasn’t fair if he played.
Damn, Grace Jones was in a Bond flick? Need to see that pronto.
You forget the two lovely mr Winth and Mr Kidd, the most awesome bond henchmen in any bondmovie ever…;)