Younger readers will be wondering who on earth Hoagy Carmichael is. He was a musician, composer, songwriter, actor, and lawyer. He was born in Bloomington Indiana on 22nd November 1899 and died in California aged 82. He wrote the music for over a hundred songs, of which fifty were hits. Do Georgia on My Mind, The Nearness of You, Heart and Soul, or In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening, ring any bells? He won an Academy Award (Oscar) for the latter in 1951 for Best Original Song, together with Johnny Mercer who wrote the lyrics. He also worked with, and was a friend of, Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong. As an actor, probably the best film he was in was the 1944 classic To Have and Have Not, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
All of you, bar the most avid Ian Fleming fans, may be wondering what this song writer has to do with James Bond. It’s quite simple, Ian Fleming pictured James Bond as Hoagy Carmichael. I’m currently re-reading the first Bond book, Casino Royale. In chapter five Vesper Lynd says of Bond, “He is very good-looking. He reminds me of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless in his …”. She is interrupted by an explosion. But there it is. Ian Fleming had an image of Hoagy Carmichael in his mind when writing about James Bond.
I’ve posted about my research for the fifth book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Having read the biographies that I need to read, I’m now outlining the plot. I’m seeing scenes play out in my mind, like watching a movie. Since Sir Anthony is the elder brother of my tenth great-grandfather, I share some of his DNA, and picture him as a taller version of me. When Simon De Deney was recording the audiobooks he asked me for cast lists, and what actor I imagined playing each role. Because I see Sir Anthony as 001, I decided Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond would be my Sir Anthony. I see Maria as Patricia Velasquez from The Mummy.