A female James Bond almost happened 60 years ago.
![Sean Connery in From Russia With Love](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/23125501/MCDFRRU_EC012-scaled.jpg)
It would seem, however, that the Maleficent actress was not the first to voice these wishes, as over 60 years before the Lynch film, there were conversations about a Bond film being led by a female James Bond.
A Female James Bond in the 60s
Nicholas Shakespeare released a biography titled Ian Fleming: The Complete Man via Variety, where he went into great detail about the life of the author of one of the most iconic series in Hollywood, James Bond. In an excerpt, he revealed that in the 1960s, producer Gregory Ratoff was deeply interested in creating a version of James Bond that would be played by a woman.
![Daniel Craig as James Bond in a still from Spectre](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/18231819/dcs.png)
“Ian had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly anglicise his accent’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).”
![Sean Connery](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/23125447/l-intro-1692747040.jpg)
It would seem that it wasn’t necessarily about the gender of the actress he was considering. During this time, several actors were in the running, and I Want to Live! actress Susan Hayward seemed to be in the lead for him. Ratoff also had a vision for what he wanted the movie to be, as he wished to specifically adapt the first book Fleming ever wrote about the character, Casino Royal.
Creative Differences Poured Water On The Plan
Although Gregory Ratoff had a plan for what he wanted to do with his James Bond film, it would seem that his intentions did not match what Ian Fleming wanted to do. The producer had a reason why he wanted the character to be played by a woman; he believed Bond, as a character, to seem off-putting for several reasons.
“frankly, we thought [Bond] was kind of unbelievable and as I recall, even kind of stupid. So Gregory thought the solution was to make Bond a woman, ‘Jane Bond’ if you will.”
![No Time to Die](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/10071958/IMG_4780.png)
He believed that if the woman played him instead, as Jane Bond, the problems would be solved. However, Fleming did not agree with this sentiment and went with a different actor altogether. Richard Burton was chosen as 007, and Ratoff’s vision took 60 years to complete.