Bernard Lee

John Bernard Lee (10 January 1908 – 16 January 1981), known as Bernard Lee, was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from the age of six. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Lee appeared in over one hundred films, as well as on stage and in television dramatisations. He was known for his roles as authority figures, often playing military characters or policemen in films such as The Third Man, The Blue Lamp, The Battle of the River Plate, and Whistle Down the Wind.

He died of stomach cancer on 16 January 1981, aged 73.

Lee was born on 10 January 1908, the son of Nellie (née Smith) and Edmund James Lee. He was born in either County Cork in what is now the Republic of Ireland, or Brentford, London. Lee's father was also an actor and Bernard's first appearance on stage in 1914, at the age of six, was with his father in a sketch called "The Double Event" at the Oxford Music Hall in London. Lee attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, working as a fruit porter to pay his fees. During the 1930s, after graduating from RADA, he initially worked in repertory theatre in Rusholme and Cardiff before beginning work on the West End stage in thrillers, such as Blind Man's Bluff. Lee also played comedic roles, such as with Arthur Askey in Ten Minute Alibi.

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