Waxed: The six Bonds on loan at Madame Tussauds Berlin
All six actors who played James Bond – from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig – can now be admired in Berlin, a city with several Bond connections.
After the six wax Bonds had first been unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London a year ago, they have now been loaned to the partnering wax museum in Berlin. The arrival of the five former Bond actors and incumbent Daniel Craig was formally celebrated on Tuesday with British ambassador Sir Sebastian Wood who, beside being a Bond fan, has his very own personal connection to Sir Sean Connery. At the age of six, he had enjoyed a table tennis match with Connery. Due to his father being an actor, father and son had once been invited to Connerys house in the south of London.
Wood, actually on Her Majesty’s service in Berlin since September 2015, unveiled the wax figures with the push of a button. The six Bonds will be on display in Berlin until January.
The figures have been designed in close cooperation with EON Productions and each of the Bonds is wearing a classic tuxedo, designed by Oscar winning costume designer Lindy Hemming who had worked on five Bond films since 1995. Each wax figure has a value of 200.000 euros and 20 artists worked four months to create the perfect, lifelike illusion.
The German capital Berlin has its very own connection to James Bond: In 1982, parts of “Octopussy” were filmed here. Bond and his superior “M” are seen in a car driving down Kurfürstendamm, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church visible in the background. Further filming locations included the AVUS motorway as well as the legendary Checkpoint Charlie, at the time of filming still a cold war border crossing between East and West Berlin.
But there is mo(o)re! Actor Sir Roger Moore had visited the city as a young officer shortly after the end of World War II in 1947. Tasked with troop entertainment, Moore often arranged plays with German actors and dancers. He would visit again 35 years later for the filming of his sixth Bond film “Octopussy”.
Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, had also been in Berlin several times. During the 1960s, Fleming penned parts of his short story “The Living Daylights” in the divided city. Flemings favourite spot for writing was Café Reinhard’s on Kurfürstendamm where he always ordered double espresso.
If you’re planning to visit Madame Tussauds, why not take a detour and also visit the Bond locations? Madame Tussauds is located near Brandenburg Gate at Unter den Linden 74. From there, it is just a short walk westwards to Friedrichstraße where you turn right to get to Checkpoint Charlie. On the right hand side, next to Checkpoint Charlie, is a self-service bakery you should definitely check out as it has some cool Bond design, an Acrostar minijet hanging from the ceiling as well as a display of memorabilia items on the first floor.
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