Ernst Stavro Blofeld - Definition and Overview

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character in the James Bond universe. He is the archenemy of MI6 secret service agent James Bond and head of the evil terrorist organization, S.P.E.C.T.R.E..

Blofeld usually appears accompanied by a white Angora cat in the films (but not in the novels). It was also briefly a trademark of the Bond films to not show Blofeld's face, only a closeup of Blofeld stroking his cat. This "trademark" was later broken in the film You Only Live Twice and subsequent films.

Blofeld appears in 5 official James Bond movies as well as Never Say Never Again, the 1983 remake of Thunderball, which makes him the most persistent and arguably greatest of James Bond's enemies.

Bio

Blofeld was responsible for the murder of Bond's wife Tracy Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but for years never got his comeuppance. Blofeld apparently met his demise (or so we thought) in the pre-title sequence of 1981's For Your Eyes Only but for copyright reasons his name was never mentioned either verbally or in the final credits. The only indications that this wheelchair-bound character is Blofeld are the presence of the Angora cat, baldness and the original trademark of not showing Blofeld's face. In the novels Blofeld was killed by Bond in Japan in the novel You Only Live Twice.

In the films, Blofeld's physical appearance and personality varies wildly due to the change of actors (i.e. Blofeld's scar does not appear in On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Diamonds Are Forever, and in On Her Majesty's Secret Service it is revealed that Blofeld has removed his earlobes, but they return in Diamonds along with a full head of hair). This is actually in keeping with the Blofeld of Fleming's novels, who is described as drastically changing his personality and appearance in order to hide from Bond.

In addition, in the books Blofeld has a few scruples. For instance, in Thunderball he learned that during a standard fundraising kidnapping mission of a young girl, the responsible agent sexually molested her. In response, Blofeld had the agent killed as punishment and returned the girl and half the ransom to her father as compensation.

Blofeld Portrayals

Actors who have played Blofeld in the films (order of appearance):

• Anthony Dawson — (From Russia with Love) (uncredited; only his hands stroking his cat are shown)
• Eric Pohlmann — (From Russia with Love) (uncredited; voice)
• Anthony Dawson — (Thunderball) (uncredited; again his face is not shown)
• Eric Pohlmann — (Thunderball) (uncredited; voice)
• Jan Werich — (You Only Live Twice) (he filmed a number of scenes before illness forced him to be replaced)
• Donald Pleasence — (You Only Live Twice) (replaced Jan Werich)
• Telly Savalas — (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
• Charles Gray — (Diamonds Are Forever)
  • Max Latimer — plays Blofeld's double in Diamonds Are Forever.
• John Hollis — (For Your Eyes Only) (uncredited)
• Max von Sydow — (Never Say Never Again)

Trivia

• The name Blofeld was inspired by the father of English Cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, with whom Fleming went to school.
• The look of Donald Pleasence's Blofeld in You Only Live Twice inspired the look of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films, down to the Nehru suit and facial scar.