Fred Haggerty as Krilencu in ‘From Russia with Love’.

Krilencu is a fictional character from the James Bond novel From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming, and the film of the same name, he was portrayed by Fred Haggerty. In both, Krilencu is a Bulgarian killer working for SMERSH to eliminate Western agents in Turkey. (Although the spelling of his name looks more Romanian than the Slavic ‘Krylenko’.) He also acts as one of Benz’s chief henchman.

In the film, Krilencu is first seen when James Bond and Kerim Bey spy on a meeting between him, Vlad, Benz and General McAdams. He is then seen leading the Bulgarian assassins to attack the gypsy camp, where he first kills a gypsy guard by throwing a knife into his stomach. As he leads the battle, he shoots Kerim Bey in the arm and manages to escape. Bond and Kerim find his hideout. When Bey’s sons, dressed as police, ring Krilencu’s doorbell, he slips out a secret entrance, through a giant Anita Ekberg mouth on a billboard. As he is climbing down, Bey shoots him in the back, causing him to fall off of his rope to his death.

See also:

• Bond henchmen