In Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Charles Gray is Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Charles Gray was a British actor that is remembered for being villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He was born on 29th August 1928 in Bournemouth, England.

In theatre Gray had a variety of roles over the years including: Love's Labour's Lost and The Alchemist in the West End, and Poor Bitos and The Right Honourable Gentleman in Broadway.

From 1958 to 1998 Charles Gray featured in nearly forty movies with the most popular being:

• Ticket to Heaven (1981)
• The Seven-Per-cent Solution (1976)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
• Cromwell (1970)
• The Devil Rides Out (1968)
• You Only Live Twice (1967)
• The Night of the Generals (1967)
• The Entertainer (1960)
• I Accuse! (1958)

In 1967, Charles Gray played a minor role in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Gray portrayed the character Dikko Henderson, an operative working for the British Secret Service in Japan.

Four years later Gray would be the major James Bond villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Starring alongside Sean Connery and Jill St John, the part was one of Gray's most distinguished cinematic roles.

Charles Gray also had roles in over twenty television films and over sixty TV series from 1957 to 1996. Some of his most popular television performances include:

• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994)
• The New Statesman (1987)
• Porterhouse Blue (1987)
• Softy Softly (1974-76)
• BBC Play of the Month (1967-76)
• Thirty-Minute Theatre (1968-71)
• Love Story (1966-68)
• Armchair Theatre (1959-68)
• ITV Play of the Week (1960-61)
• Danger Man (1960-61)
• The Four Just Men (1959-60)
• BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1958-59)
• Sword of Freedom (1957)

Charles Gray died on March 7th 2000.

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Dikko Henderson

In You Only Live Twice (1967) Dikko Henderson is James Bond's contact in Tokyo, Japan.

Henderson is a rather interesting character who has lived in Japan for 28 years. He lost a leg in World War II in 1942 and has an unusual mix of style as he refuses to go completely Japanese.

Henderson informs Bond that his most useful contact in Japan will be Tiger Tanaka (Tetsurō Tamba), head of the Japanese Secret Service. He then proceeds to give Agent 007 further information, but is suddenly killed by an assassin working for Mr Osato (Teru Shimada).

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Ernst Stavro Blofeld

The master villain in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He is portrayed by British actor Charles Gray and is the head of criminal organisation SPECTRE.

Blofeld is in charge of an elaborate diamond smuggling operation in which a diamond powered satellite is produced. The device will act as a laser super weapon which Blofeld will use in order to hold the world to ransom.

To carry out his plan, Blofeld takes over the global empire of millionaire recluse Willard Whyte (Jimmy Dean). Blofeld has Whyte kidnapped and resides in Whyte's penthouse atop his Las Vegas hotel called the Whyte House.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld has several doubles of himself created in order to out master James Bond (Sean Connery). He also makes use of a voice simulator to impersonate Willard Whyte.

At Blofeld's disposal are a variety of interesting characters. These include:

• Peter Franks (Joe Robinson), a professional smuggler
• Mr Kidd (Putter Smith) and Mr Wint (Bruce Glover), two deadly assassins
• Professor Metz (Joseph Furst), designer of Blofeld's satellite weapon
• Bambi (Trina Parks) and Thumper (Donna Garrett), acrobatic women guarding Willard Whyte in his desert home
• Bert Saxby (Bruce Cabot), casino boss working for Blofeld undercover
• Shady Tree (Leonard Barr), smuggler and Las Vegas entertainer
• Morton Slumber (David Bauer), President of mortuary Slumber Inc.

The British Secret Service believes that substantial amounts of the world's diamonds are being stockpiled. They send James Bond on a mission to discover who is responsible.

Blofeld and is double are visited by Agent 007 at the Whyte House. Here, the two Blofeld's take great pleasure in showing Bond how they simulate Whyte's voice. When 007 shoots Blofeld's double he has Bond placed within a pipeline on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

Moving to an oil rig in Baja California, Mexico, Blofeld arranges for the satellite to be launched. He then has the weapon destroy several military facilities around the world including the Strategic Air Command in North Dakota, USA.

With submarines beginning to approach the rig Blofeld informs Dr Metz that "this farcical show of force was only to be expected" and the world's nations are "flexing their muscles like … impotent beach boys".

James Bond manages to make his way onto the oil rig, but is held captive by Blofeld. When the base comes under attack, Blofeld decides to escape in his bath-o-sub, his special one man submarine.

Agent 007 escapes and takes control of the crane lowering Blofeld's bath-o-sub into the sea. Bond enjoys toying with Blofeld by knocking the sub around the rig. The base is then destroyed and 007 escapes by jumping into the ocean with his counterpart Tiffany Case (Jill St John).

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