When introduced in 1962, the cinematic James Bond already was a veteran Secret Service agent: in Dr No, when ordered re-equipped with a 7.65 mm Walther PPK pistol replacing his Beretta automatic pistol, agent 007 protests that he has used the weapon for 10 years.

Sean Connery with Ian Fleming.

The 2006 film Casino Royale is a reboot of the film series. Unlike its source novel where Bond was already a veteran, jaded 00-agent, the film depicts his first mission as 007. The film’s official website gives a biography of the Bond that parallels the backstory of Fleming’s literary character, but it is updated to reflect Bond’s new birth date of April 13, 1968; April 13 being the day in which Casino Royale was published in 1953 and 1968 being the year in which Daniel Craig was born. This version of the character was born in West Berlin, Germany. His parents, Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix Bond, died in a climbing accident, so he was brought up in Kent, UK, by his aunt Charmain.

Like the original character, Bond is kicked out of Eton College and attends his father’s alma mater, Fettes College. Bond attends the University of Geneva while at Fettes through an exchange program. After Fettes, Bond joins the Royal Navy and attends Britannia Royal Naval College at the age of 17. The modern biography clarifies Bond’s military service by stating he joins the Special Boat Service while in the Regular Royal Navy, where he obtains the rank of Commander, and then is placed in the 030 Special Forces Unit (a reference to Fleming’s 30th Assault Unit during World War II, a unit he nicknamed his ‘Red Indians’).

Bond serves covertly in Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Libya and actively in Bosnia. He is then recruited by the RNR Defence Intelligence Group. Bond attends specialised courses at Cambridge and Oxford universities during this period, earning a degree in Oriental Languages from Cambridge. Bond is noted to be fluent in English, French, German, Russian, and Italian, and writing passable Greek, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese at the time he joins MI6. In training, he receives exceptionally high marks for physical endurance, logic, and Psychological Ops exercises. He serves in the Royal Navy from age 17 to 31, joining MI6 at age 30, and is promoted to 00 Agent at age 38 in 2006.

See also:

• Bond, James: Actors
• Bond, James: Birth debate
• Bond, James: Character
• Bond, James: Description
• Bond, James: Early years
• Bond, James: Habits
• Bond, James: Other drinking habits
• Bond, James: Personal Traits