Playing James Bond was terrible for my sex life, says George Lazenby

Australian-born actor George Lazenby refused a second Bond film partly because “getting laid in a suit was difficult”.

Australian actor George Lazenby says ‘I could have had a great film career if I toed the line’. Picture: Adam Bourke.

Despite being offered £1 million to reprise his role as James Bond in a second 007 film, Australian-born actor George Lazenby turned it down believing the British secret service agent was antiquated and would not survive 1970s counterculture.

The former car salesman and male model has also conceded he was not getting enough sex when he was known as Bond, which was another reason to ­reject a seven-movie contract with United Artists.

“Yes, I turned down doing ­another film,” Lazenby told The Weekend Australian in a rare ­interview. “It was hippy time and getting laid in a suit was difficult. You had to have long hair and bell bottoms. It was the time of Easy Rider. Bond was part of the establishment.

“I was restricted to about five women for nine months. I’m not bragging but once in a while, before I was Bond, I passed that number in a day … it was a wonderful crazy time.”

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Lazenby, 76, starred as Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service after Sean Connery relinquished the role two years earlier. The movie, which was a commercial success, has won a new generation of fans for its deeper portrayal of the Bond character.

Persuaded to audition for the part by an agent he had dated, Lazenby fooled legendary producers Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to score one of the greatest movie roles in cinematic history. He had never acted in a movie before.

The 24th Bond film, Spectre, with Daniel Craig as 007, has taken $792m at the global box ­office and $29m in Australia. Laz­enby, however, says he has not seen a Bond movie since his own.

One of only six actors to play Bond, created by writer Ian Fleming, Lazenby says he was persuaded by promoter Ronan O’Rahilly that the character was passe and better film roles would be on offer. Lazenby believes he was subsequently “black-listed” by the movie industry.

Now based in Los Angeles, Lazenby has made his fortune in real estate, and occasionally ­returns to acting.

He has no regrets about his brief time as Bond, but does feel he should have done “one or two” more 007 films. “I could have had a great film career if I toed the line,” he said.