30. Hip
Played by: Soon-Tek Oh
Appears in: The Man With the Golden Gun
Hip is an MI6 agent who welcomes Bond to Thailand with a quick arrest and an eventual partnership. It helps that he’s joined by his martial artist nieces who are more than happy to show Bond their skills. The two young fighters show Hip up a bit, but he’s still a plenty respectable ally abroad that helps Bond and remains a consummate professional while doing so.
29. Tiger Tanaka
Played by: Tetsuro Tamba, voiced by Robert Rietty
Appears in: You Only Live Twice
Tiger Tanaka is a quintessential example of Bond meeting his international equivalent. Tiger is the chief of Japanese Secret Service and he’s more than happy to show Bond the ropes and welcome him into the fold. Tiger is jovial, commanding, and a bit of a player. Naturally, he makes Bond feel right at home.
28. Sheikh Hosein
Played by: Edward de Souza
Appears in: The Spy Who Loved Me
An old buddy from Bond’s days at Cambridge, Sheik Hosein is an MI6 informant living the Bedouin lifestyle in the desert. When Bond comes calling looking for information on the Atlantis-obsessed maniac Karl Stormberg, Hossein advises Bond to get in touch with two businessmen and pulls the ultimate friend flex by letting Bond crash on his couch and sip rosé. What are bros for?
27. Chuck Lee
Played by: David Yip
Appears in: A View to a Kill
A CIA agent posing as a fish stand worker, Chuck Lee is Bond’s San Francisco contact/exposition dumper, easily identifying the subjects of the photos Bond took at the thoroughbred sale. Lee shows up to drop critical intel. Namely: big bad Max Zorin is the result of a Nazi eugenics experiment. Tragically, the info-boy gets strangled in his car by May Day. When a henchman knocks you off, you know you’re doing something right!
26. Felix Leiter as seen in The Living Daylights
Played by: John Terry
Appears in: The Living Daylights
Is this the least Felix Leiter of all the Felix Leiters? Maybe. But he has a liquor cabinet next to his surveillance station and is a couple of blonde highlights away from looking like a Miami Vice walk-on. And sometimes, that’s enough. This Felix debriefs Bond over a glass of scotch and has two CIA babes to run errands for him. Always a pleasure to have Felix and Bond clock in at around the same age.
25. Nick Nack
Played by: Hervé Villechaize
Appears in: The Man With the Golden Gun
Nick Nack is more antagonistic than most of the boys on this list, but his professionalism and commitment are traits that Bond surely values, even when that works against him. Nick Nack is a trained chef, a skilled assassin, and one hell of a hard worker. His loyalty to Scaramanga is at times dubious, but that doesn’t mean he’s in any rush to let Bond off the hook when his boss bites the bullet. Nick Nack and Bond might not be palling it up any time soon, but we like to think there’s a level of respect that each has for the other’s unwavering commitment to the job.
24. Dikko Henderson
Played by: Charles Gray
Appears in: You Only Live Twice
While he may have enjoyed a higher billing as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever, the patriotic veteran Dikko Henderson is more Gray’s speed. After living in Japan for almost thirty years, Henderson’s life has become an awkward blur of British and Japanese customs. Gray’s indelible charm paints Henderson more as a dutiful ex-pat than a clumsy appropriator. The man is so dang charming when he makes 007 a stirred martini, Bond drinks it. A bounty of information, Henderson encourages Bond to find Tiger Tanaka and alerts 007 to the activity of a suspicious spacecraft before being (literally) stabbed in the back by an assassin. Henderson, we hardly knew ye. Hope you’re sipping Russian vodka in the sky.
23. Felix Leiter as seen in Thunderball
Played by: Rik Van Nutter
Appears in: Thunderball
A blonde Felix! Just the thing this Bond film needed for its sunny setting. This Felix teams up with Bond to track down Largo and has a lot of fun doing it. He’s charming and stylish, focussed on the job but not dry about it. This isn’t a very Felix-centric film, so he’s not given all that much space to show off, but Van Nutter shines in his moments and does a fine job in the role.
22. Kamran Shah
Played by: Art Malik
Appears in: The Living Daylights
An Oxford-educated Afghan fighter, Shah has truly got it all. While we doubt that his interests completely align with MI6’s, he and Bond share a common enemy, and the two are happy to team up for the greater good. Each looks out for the other, forming a bond through quite literally saving each other’s necks. That’s what friends are for! Plus, we gotta love a guy who won’t let anything come between him and appreciating the finest music Vienna has to offer.
21. Jack Wade
Played by: Joe Don Baker
Appears in: GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies
Look. If you wear a Hawaiian shirt in a Bond movie, that automatically makes you a Bond Boy. We don’t make the rules. One of Bond’s many CIA pals, Wade distinguishes himself by mooning Bond to prove his identity. Why international spies don’t always ID themselves with ass tattoos is a mystery. This should be standard practice. Did we mention Wade’s nickname is “Jimbo”? Because it is. Also, while we’re here, Joe Don Baker is one of only three actors who have portrayed both a Bond baddie and an ally (the other two being Charles Gray and Walter Gotell). Fun!
Related Topics: Bondathon, James Bond
