David Warbeck(1941-1997)

He was on the (exceedingly) short list to be the third James Bond, in Vive y deja morir (1973), until Roger Moore was able to spring free from TV commitments. He later claimed he was paid by Eon Productions to be a substitute or back-up Bond on the conditions that he not tell anyone and that he be ready for filming at a moment's notice in the case of Moore leaving or threatening to leave the role. One day he read about Timothy Dalton being chosen and was told by the producers that he was now "too old for the role".