Joe Don Baker turned down role as James Bond!

[David Flanigan]

I just ran across some interesting info about the star of the greatest action/adventure movie ever "Mitchell",Joe Don Baker auditioned to be the new James Bond in 1972. MGM/UA studios held the audition. I hear Joe Don entered the audition in true style. He had a friend with a portable 8-track tape player crank up the James Bond theme and than he walked in the room and drew a gun loaded with blanks and fired,just like Bond does at the begining of each film. Joe Don was offered the role just seconds after finishing the audition,but was asking for double the money that the producers wanted to pay. Meanwhile,Roger Moore had friends working on the film crew and offered to play the part for 1/4th the price Joe Don was asking. After the Moore's truly awful portrayel of Bond in "live and let die",Joe Don was offered a the role in "the man with the golden gun" for the original price he asked,but he turned it down because he was involved in bigger and better things. I heard the audition was filmed and is still somewhere in the united artists corp. film vault. Including Joe Don reciting some famous Bond quotes such as,The names Bond....James Bond,and I'll have a martini,shaken,not stired. I've been e-mailing anchor bay and asking them to get this footage and include it in the special edition Mitchell dvd. I hear they have enough behind the scenes footage and interviews to make a 2 dvd set. Help me with my cause,e-mail anchor bay and tell them you want them to include the James Bond audition on the Mitchell dvd,and tell them to hurry and release it!

[Warren H.]

Thank goodness for that.

[flangepart]

Three words. Oh...My...God! Thanks..now my brain hurts.....

[Ken Begg]

Uh, xould I have some confirmation on this?  From someone who isn't JDB.

[Andrew]

punch Ken.  I'd love to see some reference material for this claim.

Andrew