The early years of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli are a bit clouded: some biographers state that his education ended in high school, while others insist that he attended C.C.N.Y. One thing is certain: Broccoli was employed as an agronomist before accepting a job as an assistant director at 20th Century Fox in 1938. In the late '40s, he was hired in the same capacity by RKO, and in 1949 briefly worked as an actor's agent with the Charles K. Feldman agency. Moving to England in 1951, Broccoli formed Warwick Pictures with his partner, Irving Allen. The company turned out such Anglo-American productions as Paratrooper (1953) and The Black Knight (1954), both starring Alan Ladd; the location-filmed Safari (1956), with Victor Mature and Janet Leigh; and The Gamma People (1956), a diverting sci-fier. One of Warwick's few unrealized projects was a TV version of Sherlock Holmes; after years of negotiating with Broccoli and Allen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's son, Adrian, decided to cast his lot with maverick producer Sheldon Reynolds. In 1960, Broccoli bolted Warwick to form Eon Productions with Harry Saltzman. The crowning achievement of this collaboration was the fantastically successful James Bond film series, beginning with 1962's Dr. No. In 1976, Broccoli and Saltzman split up, with Broccoli assuming all movie rights to the James Bond property (he has since passed these rights along to his daughter, likewise a producer). During his long film career, Albert R. Broccoli has received numerous film and "civilian" honors, including the Irving G. Thalberg Award, the Order of the British Empire, and France's Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.
by Hal Erickson
biography
