07-04a Thunderball

It was 1965, and the fourth film of the James Bond spy series, Thunderball, was shot in Nassau, and both Ian and Robert had parts as extras.
Although Ian worked at the Nassau Beach Hotel, he did some part time work for a scuba company that catered to tourists; so it was no surprise that Ian was hired as an extra in the film that had so many underwater film sequences. A great shot of the star Sean Connery in diving gear is attached.
It was soon discovered was Ian had the same body type as Sean Connery, and became his double; first for the underwater shots, and then for the above ground filming. It is a source of great fun to watch the movie and recognize Ian by a mole on his back.
Robert came down to see Ian when he was at Western. He reports missing Ian at the airport. Hr didn’t recognize Ian because his skin was so black from being out in the sun so much. Ian eventually took him to the second director and got him a job as an extra.
They had a rope to keep people away from the filming, and Robert reports walking along the rope and giving autographs to people watching the filming. What fun, such great memories.
One of the female stars was Claudine Auger, and the movie clip of her with three scuba divers is a classic. Ian considered Sean Connery a real gentleman. He was bald even at that young age, and after every shot, the first thing he did was pull off his wig.
Robert had four parts: a guard at the gate, a guard over the shark pool, a guard at a canal, and finally as a character on the Disco Valente ship, shooting a huge machine gun that kept jamming. Apparently, they were shooting at a British frigate that the navy used to chase their ship. What a story.
Robert reports meeting all the stars at formal events and dinners. The photo of Sean Connery in his tuxedo is from one of those events.
Ian and Robert in Thunderball was a real family adventure story. Young Ben, Ian’s grandson, was made famous in school because his grandfather was in the movie Thunderball. We all liked to talk about our family entry into show business.