Broccoli, Albert Romolo

▪ 1997

      ("CUBBY"), U.S. film producer (b. April 5, 1909, New York, N.Y.—d. June 27, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.), popularized the fictional character James Bond, the charismatic British hero of Ian Fleming's spy novels, by producing 17 internationally successful motion pictures. Broccoli, the son of Italian immigrants, worked for relatives first in the vegetable business and later at a coffin company before moving to California, where he held a succession of odd jobs. He landed an entry-level position at the Hollywood film studio Twentieth Century Fox and worked his way up to the post of assistant director on the film The Outlaw (1943). After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II and working as a Hollywood talent agent, he launched his career as an independent producer in Great Britain in the early 1950s, making a string of money-making adventure films with U.S. émigré Irving Allen. In 1962 he paired with Canadian producer Harry Saltzman to create the first James Bond film, Dr. No, for the United Artists studio. The movie, starring Sean Connery, was a box-office hit and prompted Broccoli and Saltzman to produce eight more films together until Saltzman sold out to United Artists. Broccoli retained rights to the series, and after his death his family continued to produce James Bond films.

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