20. Hawker the caddy
Played by: Gerry Duggan
Appears in: Goldfinger
The only thing better than a golf day for the boys is a golf day combined with conspiring with your bro to outsmart the villain at his own game. Thankfully for Bond, Hawker is along for the ride! He’s suspicious of Goldfinger from the get-go, an instinct Bond naturally shares. Working together, the boys get the upper hand and have a lot of fun doing it. Sure, Hawker doesn’t stick around for a large chunk of the run time, but his brief scene is fun as hell and he’s certainly a standout boy.
19. Sharkey
Played by: Frank McRae
Appears in: License to Kill
If your name is “Sharkey,” you kind of have to open a boating business. A close friend to both Bond and Felix, Sharkey is game for anything. Be it mid-bridal party damage control or assisting 007 with his hot-headed revenge schemes. Sharkey is a great pal, and he absolutely did not deserve to be killed in the most demeaning way possible (being gutted and hung like a shark).
18. Milos Columbo
Played by: Chaim Topol
Appears in: For Your Eyes Only
Injecting some much-needed personality into For Your Eyes Only, Milos Columbo has the great benefit of being played by Topol and being named after the world’s greatest detective. Also known as “The Dove,” Columbo saves Bond’s life, and he plays a crucial role in taking down his rival smuggler, Aris Kristatos. Columbo isn’t the first criminal Bond has fought alongside, but he’s definitely the one with the best mustache. Plus he doesn’t smuggle heroin. Just pistachios. A hero.
17. Quarrel
Played by: John Kitzmiller
Appears in: Dr. No
For a humble fisherman/boat-haver Quarrel certainly has friends in high places. Like: CIA and British Secret Service places. With ties to the missing spy John Strangways and first-hand knowledge of the location of Dr. No’s secret island base, Quarrel brings a lot to the table. He’s is an affable guy with a keen survival instinct and an admirable pain tolerance (remember when he got knifed in the face by that photographer lady and was cool as a cucumber?). Hell, it takes a flame-throwing tank to do in Quarrel. Now that’s an ally!
16. Red Grant
Played by: Robert Shaw
Appears in: From Russia With Love
We are once again breaking our own rules by including a baddie on this list, but just look at Red Grant! How could he not be a boy!? He’s an exemplary SPECTRE assassin, an antagonistic golden boy, and he knows how to pack a mean punch. He’s the original and arguably best example of 007 meeting his opposite number. In another life, the two could have even been real friends — that is, assuming Red Grant stopped ordering red wine with fish.
15. Quarrel Jr.
Played by: Roy Stewart
Appears in: Live and Let Die
We like to keep things in the family here. Quarrel Jr., son of the dearly departed fisherman ally, takes over the business and is happy to help Bond explore the sinister island of San Monique. He fills in Bond’s knowledge gaps and sticks around to help destroy Kananga’s poppy fields. One of the most helpful boys on the list! Plus, we like to imagine that after the credits rolled, the two boys went on a fun fishing trip.
14. Lazar
Played by: Marne Maitland
Appears in: The Man With the Golden Gun
In one of the only sinister tête-à-têtes of the Moore era, Bond pays a visit to Mr. Lazar to get dirt on the Portuguese gunsmith’s most notorious customer: Scaramanga. Aware of Bond’s reputation, Lazar eagerly welcomes 007 into his shop with the hope that he is there to commission a weapon. While Lazar wants to be friends, Bond wants information, intimidating Lazar with an oddly calibrated rifle until he acquires the intel he wants. Lazar’s charm is in the evident pride he carries for his craft, which he considers in isolation from the morbidity of his profession. He has the passion of a sommelier or a truffle hunter: abhorring mass-production and relishing in the bespoke. One wonders if Bond and Lazar could have been more reciprocal friends under less menacing circumstances.
13. Felix Leiter as seen in the Daniel Craig era
Played by: Jeffrey Wright
Appears in: Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace
A new Felix for a very new Bond. With Casino Royale rebooting the Bond series, it made sense to recruit a rather suave Felix to compliment this gritty Bond. And indeed, Wright fills this role incredibly well. Craig’s Bond isn’t exactly a bro-y guy, so there aren’t as many fun moments between the two as one might have hoped, but this “brother from Langley” is smooth, skilled, and memorable. We look forward to seeing him return.
12. Alec Trevelyan
Played by: Sean Bean
Appears in: GoldenEye
There’s no better boy than a bad boy. Alec Trevelyan, a.k.a. 006, is one of the best to ever take up the mantle of the Bond betrayer. The GoldenEye cold open is one of the franchise’s best, in part because it introduces us to Alec and his electric chemistry with Bond. And 006 gets points for perfectly playing the role of Bond’s bestie while working towards a lifelong goal of revenge. Sure, his plan is foiled, but God loves a try-hard.
11. Sir Godfrey Tibbett
Played by: Patrick Macnee
Appears in: A View to a Kill
Horse trainer and MI6 operative, Sir Godfrey is a man who quite literally wears many hats. Above all else, though, he’s an ally to Bond as he investigates Max Zorin. The two get along quite well and become friends (fun fact! Patrick Macnee was only five years older than Roger Moore!), with Sir Godfrey willing to pick up the slack when they go undercover. He is sadly taken out by May Day, but not without being mourned by Bond (and us, of course).
Related Topics: Bondathon, James Bond
