Shady Tree is a character in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, and is portrayed by Leonard Barr.

Leonard Barr as Shady Tree in ‘Diamonds Are Forever.

In both the novel and movie, Michael (Shady) Tree is the link in the “pipeline” who receive the diamonds once they are in the US. His fate is unrevealed in the novel; he is based in New York and acts as a ‘frontman’. He is a red-haired hunchback and deals with most of the ‘small fry’ henchmen.

In the film, he first appears taking James Bond off a crematorium because the diamonds given to him are fake. Then Bond goes to the hotel where he works as a stand-up comedian, and Tree is killed by Wint and Kidd. The duo come to him saying (Wint) “Shady, we just adored your act. (Kidd) What taste, what style. (Wint again) And we have a few suggestions”, to which he replies that “Critics and material I don’t need. I haven’t changed my act in 40 years”. Then, in a deleted scene, Kidd shoots a toy gun from which a “bang” sign pops out – and then the gun fires a real bullet, killing Tree. As the assassins come out of the room, Bert Saxby informs that Tree is needed alive because of the fake diamonds, to which Kidd replies “That’s most annoying.”

See also:

• Bond henchmen