James Bond Real-Life Couples—Meet the Ladies Who Stole the Hearts of These 007 Actors
From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, these six actors have been married a total of 14 times
From his 1962 debut in Dr. No, James Bond was established as a spy who was also a womanizer, and it’s a tradition that has carried secret agent 007 through 25 movies and six actors who have brought him to life. And while there may be differences in approach between Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, all of them have maintained that particular aspect of the character.
That being said, the James Bond real-life couples were, relatively speaking, a bit more down to Earth, with those actors enjoying (in most cases) much longer relationships than their on-screen alter ego. What follows is a guide to the marriages of the men who have been Bond. James Bond.
The Sean Connery James Bond films
Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Never Say Never Again (1983)
Sean Connery’s early relationships
In the 1950s, Sean Connery dated a Jewish woman named Carol Sopel, but backed off after receiving “warnings” from her family that he’s better stay away. This was followed by his dating Julie Hamilton, the daughter of a documentary filmmaker. He developed feelings for jazz singer Maxine Daniels (the two had met while he was working on stage early in his career), but she turned him down, noting that she was married with a child.
Sean Connery and Diane Cilento
Sean Connery married actress Diane Cilento, an Academy Award nominee for her role in 1963’s Tom Jones, and they were together until their separation in 1971 and, ultimately, a divorce three years later. Cilento alleged physical and emotional abuse by the actor, which wasn’t helped by the fact that he had made no secret of the fact that he didn’t have a problem with hitting women if it was warranted — it was an aspect of himself that he never really shook despite his popularity. He and Cilento were the parents of actor Jason Connery.
1967
1967: Film star Sean Connery with his first wife Diane Cilento at the film premiere of the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, in which he starred.
1970s
(Original Caption) Hollywood- Diane Cilento and husband Sean Connery, better known to movie fans around the world as “007” James Bond. Diane is also an actress and claims she is not the least bit jealous of the exotic femmes her husband woos on-screen, just as long as she is number one offscreen- which she is. Ca. 1970s.
Sean Connery and Micheline Roquebrune
After he and Cilento separated, Connery dated actresses Lana Wood and Jill St. John (co-starring with both in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever), Dyan Cannon (a co-star in 1971’s The Anderson Tapes), Carole Mallory and Magda Konopka. He did seem to settle down in 1975 when he wed for a second time, to French-Moroccan painter Micheline Roquebrune, with whom he was with until the time of his death.
1990
Sean Connery and his Wife Micheline Roquebrune attend a premiere in London, circa 1990.
2003
Connery, who was knighted in 2000, retired from acting in 2006. He passed away on October 31, 2020, age 90. The cause of death was a combination of pneumonia and respiratory failure. According to Micheline, he had been suffering from dementia.
The George Lazenby James Bond film
George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
George Lazenby and Chrissie Townson
Australian model turned actor George Lazenby, rose to stardom as the first actor to play James Bond besides Sean Connery, doing so in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and then dropping out of the role, having been convinced that Bond was out of step with the times and would fade away. Well … not so much.
In 1973 he married Gannett family heiress Christine Ross Townson, with whome he had daughter Melanie Andrea Lazenby and son Zachary Lazenby, born respectively in 1973 and 1974. Tragically, Zachary died from a brain tumor at age 19 in 1994, with Lazenby and Townson divorcing the following year.
George Lazenby and Pam Shriver
In 2002, Lazenby married former tennis player Pam Shriver, with whom he had three more children. Despite that, Shriver, who cited irreconcilable differences, filed for divorce in 2008, everything being finalized three years later.
The Roger Moore James Bond films
Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985).
Roger Moore and Doorn van Steyn
When he was only 18 in 1946, Roger Moore married Doorn Van Steyn, a fellow student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts who became an actress and ice skater. Six years older than him, their marriage fell apart largely because of her feeling that he would never make it as an actor and money problems they faced. There were also reports that Moore suffered from domestic abuse at her hands. They divorced in 1953.
Roger Moore and Dorothy Squires
Talk about stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire: in 1953 he married Wesley singer Dorothy Squires, who he’d met the year before and which seems to have precipitated the end of his first marriage. This time, Moore was with a woman 12 years older than him and once again there were tensions, rising from the difference in their age and a number of miscarriages that the couple endured. And there was more violence against the actor, Squires apparently smashing a guitar over his head when she discovered he’d been having an affair with Luisa Mattioli, an Italian actress that he would make wife number three. Moore and Squires divorced in 1968.
Roger Moore and Luisa Mattioli
Roger Moore met Luisa Mattioli while the two were in Italy filming 1961’s The Rape of the Sabine Women. By all reports, Squires did not handle this well, smashing windows at a house in France where Moore and Mattioli were living, suing various people to the point where she was ruled a vexatious litigant (meaning she was suing people to harass them).
Moore and Mattioli lived together until 1969 when Squires finally agreed to the divorce, allowing the couple to marry in April of that year. They were the parents of three: daughter Deborah, born 1963; and sons Geoffrey, born 1966; and Christian, born 1973; and were together until their divorce in 2000.
1980
Roger Moore and his wife Luisa Mattioli attending the Monaco Red Cross Ball in the year that they divorced.
Roger Moore and Kristina Tholstrup
You can’t say that Roger Moore wasn’t consistent: his marriage to Mattioli came to an end when he fell for Swedish-born Danish socialize Kristina Tholstrup in 1993 following a reassessment of is life and marriage in the aftermath of a prostate cancer diagnosis. Mattioli wasn’t willing to grant him a divorce until she was given a multi-million dollar settlement.
Moore and Tholstrup married in 2002 and they were together until Moore’s death as a result of cancer on May 23, 2017 at 89.
The Timothy Dalton James Bond Films
The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989)
Timothy Dalton and Vanessa Redgrave
Timothy Dalton, who is currently 78, has never been married, though he has had two long-term relationships. The first was with actress Vanessa Redgrave, with whom he starred in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) and Agatha (1979). They were together romantically from 1971 to 1986.
Timothy Dalton and Oksana Grigorieva
Dalton met musician Oksana Grigorieva in 1995 when she was working for Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. They were together until 2003 and are parents to a son who was born in 1997.
The Pierce Brosnan James Bond films
GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002)
Pierce Brosnan and Cassandra Harris
Pierce Brosnan has been married twice, the first time to Australian actress Cassandra Harris, who he wed in December 1980. In 1983 they became parents to their son, Sean, who would grow up to become an actor as well. Additionally, Brosnan adopted her two songs from a previous marriage, Charlotte and Chris. Sadly, in 1987 Harris became ill and would be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died on December 28, 1991. Even more tragically, her daughter died of the same disease in 2013.
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith
Brosnan was devastated by the loss of Harris, but in 1994 found solace with Keeley Shaye Smith, an American journalist. They got married in 2001 and became the parents of sons Dylan and Paris. They’ve been together ever since.
2003
Pierce Brosnan (L) and his wife Keely arrive at “Turn Up The Heat-Fight Global Warming,” a benefit to help the Natural Resources Defense Council, featuring a concert performance by the Rolling Stones at the Staples Center on February 6, 2003 in Los Angeles, California.
2016
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Brosnan pose on the red carpet during the European Film Awards at The National Forum of Music on December 10, 2016 in Wroclaw, Poland.
2023
Keely Shaye Smith (L) and Pierce Brosnan (R) attend the Los Angeles special screening of Dalíland at Culver Theater on June 07, 2023 in Culver City, California.
The Daniel Craig James Bond films
Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), No Time to Die (2021)
Daniel Craig and Fiona Loudon
Daniel Craig, the latest actor to have played James Bond, has been married twice, his first union admittedly being a short one. He and actress Fiona Loudon tied the knot in 1992 and were divorced two years later. In between, they had a daughter named Ella.
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz
Following the divorce, Craig dated German actress Helke Makatasch for seven years, followed by some time with film producer Satsuki Mitchell. But the next person to claim his heart was actress Rachel Weisz, who he had met in 1994 when they worked together on Les Grandes Horizontales. However, they didn’t begin dating until 2010 and married in a private ceremony on June 22, 2011. In 2018, they welcomed their daughter.
2024
Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig attend the Queer red carpet during the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 03, 2024 in Venice, Italy.
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