Editing Desmond Llewelyn (section)

==Acting career==
After the war, Llewelyn continued his career as an actor, returning to television work in [[Robert Atkins (actor)|Sir Robert Atkins']] 1946 film of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He also acted on stage with [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Vivien Leigh]], before appearing in Olivier's 1948 film ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]''. Llewelyn continued to gain work in television, notably portraying [[Mr Hyde]] in ''The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', as well as roles in TV series ''[[My Wife Jacqueline]]'', ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'' and ''[[The Invisible Man (1958 TV series)|The Invisible Man]]''.<ref name="WBio"></ref>

In 1950, Llewelyn drew on both his war experience and Welsh background to play a supporting role as "'77 Jones" a Welsh tank commander in the film ''[[They Were Not Divided]]'' directed by [[Terence Young (director)|Terence Young]]. Throughout the 1950s Llewelyn appeared in a number of small roles in films such as ''[[The Lavender Hill Mob]]'', ''[[Valley of Song]]'', ''[[A Night to Remember (1958 film)|A Night to Remember]]'', ''[[Knights of the Round Table (film)|Knights of the Round Table]]'', ''[[Sword of Sherwood Forest]]'', and he appeared in the 1961 [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer Horror]] film ''[[The Curse of the Werewolf]]''.

===''James Bond'' series===
{{see also|Q (James Bond)}}
In 1963, Terence Young asked Llewelyn to read for the part of [[Q ("James Bond" character)|Quartermaster Major Boothroyd]] in the second official film in the [[Bond film series]], ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]''. Both Young and [[Ian Fleming]] wanted 'Q' portrayed with a strong [[Welsh accent]] (as Llewelyn used his native accent while working with Young on ''They Were Not Divided''). Llewelyn disagreed, persuading them that the character should have an upper-class English accent. Despite this, Llewelyn was chosen for the role.<ref name="WBio"></ref>

Llewelyn would become a staple of the film series for over thirty years, playing 'Q' the [[quartermaster]] of the [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] from 1963 until 1999. Llewelyn appeared in every [[EON Productions|EON film production]] except 1973's ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'', in which the character did not appear.

His last appearance as Q prior to his death was in ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' in 1999. During his briefing of [[James Bond (character)|007]] in the film, Q introduces [[John Cleese]]'s character, R, as his [[heir presumptive]], and the film alludes to Q's retirement, to which Bond, after seeing Q, expresses his hope that it will not be any time soon. Q's response is to admonish Bond to "always have an escape plan", after which he lowers himself through the floor of his lab. Llewelyn had stated not long before his death that he had no plans to retire and that he would continue playing Q "as long as the producers want me and the Almighty (God) doesn't."<ref>From an interview on the DVD release of ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]''.</ref>

In 1967, Llewelyn portrayed 'Q' alongside [[Lois Maxwell|Lois Maxwell's]] [[Miss Moneypenny]] in an EON produced television documentary entitled ''[[Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond]]''. This promotional film was included in the 2006 Special Edition DVD release of ''[[You Only Live Twice (film)|You Only Live Twice]]''. He would play the role of 'Q' in seventeen films, more than any other actor and playing opposite five iterations of the James Bond character in [[Sir Sean Connery]], [[George Lazenby]], [[Sir Roger Moore]], fellow Welshman [[Timothy Dalton]], and [[Pierce Brosnan]].

Although Llewelyn became one of British cinema's most recognisable characters and an important and long-standing element in the 'Bond' franchise, 'Q' did not make Llewelyn rich—the actor was merely paid 'by the day' for his few hours of work on-set and did not share in the money made by the films. Nevertheless, because Llewelyn was considered one of the franchise's major institutions and also immensely popular among Bond fans, Llewelyn starred in several commercials, including ones to promote the video games ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye 007]]'' and ''[[Tomorrow Never Dies (video game)|Tomorrow Never Dies]]''.

===Other roles===
[[File:Desmond Llewelyn.jpg|thumb|Llewelyn in 1992]]
Llewellyn continued to act in other roles throughout his tenure as 'Q', notably appearing the 1963 film ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' (as a Roman senator), and the 1981 [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] production of ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'', and he had a small role in the musical ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'' (1968), which was itself based on a children's book by Bond author [[Ian Fleming]]. Llewelyn would also appear as Geoffrey Maddocks ('The Colonel') in the British television series ''[[Follyfoot]]'' from 1971 to 1973, and the BBC Wales production ''[[The Life and Times of David Lloyd George]]'' with [[Philip Madoc]].

The Bond film ''Live and Let Die'' was filmed during the third series of ''Follyfoot'', and Llewelyn was written out of the series for three episodes so he could appear in the film. However, the Bond producers ultimately decided to leave the character out of the film anyway, much to Llewelyn's annoyance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.follyfoot-tv.co.uk/jott/des_inter/des_interveiw.htm |title=Llewelyn's last interview (with reference to ''Follyfoot'' and ''Live and Let Die'') |publisher=Follyfoot-tv.co.uk |date=19 December 1999 |access-date=19 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217053521/http://www.follyfoot-tv.co.uk/jott/des_inter/des_interveiw.htm |archive-date=17 February 2012 }}</ref>

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1995 when he was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] at London's Hyde Park Hotel, during a press launch for the new Bond film, ''[[GoldenEye]]''.<ref name="WBio"></ref>