Clint Eastwood: The actor and director was approached in 1970 after Lazenby’s exit but had one major reservation.

He later said: “I thought James Bond should be British. I am of British descent but by that same token, I thought that it should be more of the culture there and also, it was not my thing.”

Burt Reynolds: Asked in 22015 whether it was true he had turned down the chance to take over from Connery, he said: “It’s true, I hate to say it because it lowers my IQ by fifty points.”

In 2105, promoting his autobiography My Life, he confessed: “I think I could have done it well. In my stupidity, I said, ‘An American can’t play James Bond, it has to be an Englishman… Bond, James Bond. Nah, I can’t do it.’ Oops. Yeah, i could have done it.” 

However, he added he tried to live with no regrets: “I always wanted to experience everything and go down swinging. So far, so good.”