Fleming, Ian

British novelist, best known as creator of the popular suspense-fiction character James Bond, British secret service agent 007. Born in London, Fleming was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, which he left after a year to study languages in Munich, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland. He served as Moscow correspondent for the Reuters news agency from 1929 to 1933. He was then a banker and stockbroker in London until the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), when he became personal assistant to the director of British naval intelligence. After the war Fleming worked as foreign manager of The Sunday Times, in London. The suave, thrill-seeking Commander James Bond is the protagonist of 12 best-selling espionage novels written by Fleming, including Casino Royale (1953), From Russia with Love (1957), Dr. No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), Thunderball (1961), and The Man with the Golden Gun, published posthumously in 1965. Scottish actor Sean Connery and English actor Roger Moore, among others, have played the role of James Bond in several successful motion pictures based on Fleming's novels.