Count Lippe is a fictional character and henchman in the James Bond novel Thunderball. He also appears in the 1965 film of the same name and the 1983 remake, Never Say Never Again. In Thunderball he is played by Guy Doleman, and in Never Say Never Again by Pat Roach.

Guy Doleman as Count Lippe in ‘Thunderball’.

The Counts of Lippe really existed, and have descendants still living today. However, since 1806 all members of the family have had the title of Prince, not Count.

Novel biography: Count Lippe is described as an extremely handsome woman-killer. He has brown hair, is athletic-looking, roughly six foot, and has certain features that suggest he may be Spanish or from South America. Based on stories that Lippe tells the staff at Shrublands, Bond assumes he is of Portuguese blood and is probably from Macao.

Lippe first meets James Bond outside the Shrublands health farm when he pulls up in a Bentley and nearly hits Patricia Fearing who is saved by Bond’s quick reaction. Lippe is later seen by Bond arguing with a Shrublands’ masseur who requests that Lippe remove his wristwatch while receiving a massage. When Lippe reluctantly does so, Bond notices that it was being used to cover a tattoo in red that he learns was the sign of the Red Lightning Tong. Lippe overhears Bond’s phone conversation in which he is informed of the symbol and later attempts to kill Bond by turning up the power on a traction table that Bond is using. After being saved by Fearing, Bond retaliates against Lippe by trapping him in a steam bath and turning up the heat. Consequently, Lippe suffers second-degree burns and is hospitalised for a week.

Lippe was actually at Shrublands on behalf of SPECTRE. Lippe, called “Sub-operator G” by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, was tasked to oversee Giuseppe Petacchi at the Boscombe Down Airfield where the bombing squadron was undergoing training. While Lippe’s mission was partly successful he was considered “unreliable” by Blofeld after getting into his childish clash with James Bond. As a consequence of Lippe being put into the hospital, Blofeld orders his elimination.

Because Bond knows of Lippe’s connection to the Red Lightning Tong, Lippe is fearful that Bond may be able to take it a step further and learn of Lippe’s connection to SPECTRE. For this reason Lippe tracks Bond down and tails him in a Volkswagen unknowing that he himself is being pursued by SPECTRE agent #6. Ultimately Lippe’s attempt to kill Bond once again fails and Lippe is killed when his Volkswagen is blown up.

Film biography: In Thunderball, a nobleman of undetermined nationality, Count Lippe is encountered by Bond at the Shrublands health spa. He is revealed to be an agent of SPECTRE charged with hiring Angelo Palazzi to impersonate Francois Derval. He makes at least one attempt on Bond’s life at the clinic. Eventually, Lippe is killed by Fiona Volpe on Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s orders, as punishment for his poor judgement in hiring the greedy Palazzi.

Unlike the previous version of Lippe, in Never Say Never Again there is no mention of him being a count. Also is not directly involved in SPECTRE’s plot to have Jack Petache (this film’s version of François Derval/Angelo Palazzi) steal NATO nuclear warheads. Instead, he is merely an assassin sent by Fatima Blush to kill Bond at the clinic. He and Bond have a fight that destroys the clinic, and Lippe is ultimately killed when he falls onto broken glass after Bond throws a beaker filled with his own urine sample into the killer’s face.

See also:

• Bond henchmen