Albert Romolo Broccoli (1908-1996) Centenary

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2008-03-29

Albert Cubby Broccoli James Bond producer

Centenary celebration of legendary Albert "Cubby" Broccoli - executive producer on all 16 official James Bond films between 1962 and 1989.

Albert Broccoli, or "Cubby" for those who knew him, was born on April 5th 1909 and passed away on June 29th 1996.

Albert Romolo Broccoli known to millions of movie fans as 'Cubby' Broccoli (a nickname used by a cousin), produced more than forty movies, but will be best remembered for his contribution to one of the most successful film franchises in history, James Bond.

Broccoli was born into an Italian-American family on Long Island. The family moved to Florida, and on the death of his father Giovanni, Broccoli moved to live with his grandmother in Astoria, Queens in New York City. Having worked many jobs, including casket maker, Broccoli became involved in the film industry. He started at the bottom working as a gofer on the Howard Hughes' The Outlaw (1941), which starred Jane Russell. Here he met Hughes for the first time, while Hughes was overseeing the movie's production after director Howard Hawks was fired. Shortly after, he joined the United States Navy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the War he returned to Hollywood to work as an agent at the Famous Artists Agency.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Broccoli moved once more, this time to London. A shrewd businessman, he was able to make good use of the subsidy given by the British government to subsidise films made in the UK with British casts and crews. In 1962, Broccoli teamed with Harry Saltzman to create the production company, EON Productions and its parent company Danjaq, LLC. Broccoli produced the first Bond movie DR NO that year, and his involvement in the series continued until his death. His family, particularly daughter Barbara Broccoli and stepson Michael G. Wilson have since produced the James Bond films. Besides the Bond movies, Broccoli produced the Dick Van Dyke classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, from the book by James Bond author Ian Fleming, and the Bob Hope vehicle Call Me Bwana, the only film made by EON Productions outside of the James Bond franchise. In 1981, he was honoured with The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work in film and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Broccoli married three times. In 1940, at the age of 31, Cubby married actress Gloria Blondell (the younger sister of Joan Blondell); they later divorced in 1945 without having children. In 1951, he married Nedra Clark, who died after giving birth to their daughter, Tina. In the 1960s, Broccoli met and married actress and novelist, Dana Wilson (née Dana Natol), who died of cancer in 2004, aged 82.

Broccoli died at his home in Beverly Hills in 1996 at the age of 87 of natural causes and was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles following a Roman Catholic Mass of Christian Burial, attended by some of the James Bond movies' cast members, such as Desmond Llewelyn, Maryam d'Abo and Timothy Dalton.

“He was tall with a strong physical presence and there was just the right hint of threat behind that hard smile and faint Scottish burr.” Albert R. Broccoli on the choice of Sean Connery as James Bond

Editor's note:
For other anniversaries featured on From Sweden with Love, click here.

For more about Cubby Broccoli, visit the Facebook page dedicated to him:

www.facebook.com/cubbybroccoli007

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