Dr No: The First Villain In The James Bond Movie Series

Dr No is the first
James Bond Villain

The first James Bond villain, Dr No, is portrayed by Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman. From his hidden base at Crab Key, Jamaica, Dr No plans to emit radio signals from a nuclear reactor in order to interfere with the space programme of the United States.

Dr Julius No was born to Chinese and German parents before eventually becoming the treasurer of The Tongs, a dominant Chinese crime group. After stealing $10 million of the organisation’s money, he escapes to America and becomes a member of SPECTRE, an extremely powerful criminal institution.

“When my mission here in Crab Key is
accomplished, I destroy it and move on.”

Later, Dr Julius No became one of SPECTRE’s best agents and came up with a plan to have SPECTRE decide the outcome of the Cold War between East and West.

In Jamaica, Doctor No has several people who keep an eye on anyone that shows an interest in Crab Key or himself. The geologist Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson) is responsible for arranging the accidental death of James Bond (Sean Connery).

Other workers for Dr Julius No in Jamaica include: the Three Blind Mice assassins, a devious photographer (Margaret LeWars), the undercover spy Miss Taro (Zena Marshall) and chauffeur Mr Jones (Reggie Carter).

The island of Crab Key is heavily guarded by Doctor No’s men. They are to blame for the previous deaths of Quarrel’s (John Kitzmiller) friends and Honey Ryder’s (Ursula Andress) father.

In order to scare away potential visitors to the island, Dr Julius No uses a special dragon tank, a vehicle painted as a dragon and equipped with a flame thrower.

Regarding himself as one of the world’s finest radiation experts, Doctor No has mechanical hands resulting from an accident during a radiation experiment. Dr No has a lavish home on Crab Key featuring beautiful antiques and elements of modern design.

When James Bond and Honey Ryder are detained by Dr Julius No they are given lush rooms and treated like important visitors. However, after joining Dr No for dinner the pair are separately imprisoned.

Agent 007 manages to escape from his cell and join Doctor No’s nuclear reactor room disguised as a worker. Bond begins to use the controls to overheat the reactor and is set upon by Doctor No.

The pair then has a fierce battle before 007 kills Dr Julius No by knocking him into the boiling reactor water. Bond then rescues Honey moments before the nuclear reactor explodes.

Joseph Wiseman

Joseph Wiseman was a Canadian actor born in Montreal, Quebec on the 15th of May 1918. At a young age Wiseman moved with his family to the United States and began acting in his teen years.

In 1938, Wiseman debuted on Broadway when he played a minor role in Abe Lincoln in Illinois, a biographical play about President Abraham Lincoln. Wiseman had a variety of parts in theatre before his first acting roles in films in the early 1950s.

Some of the admired Joseph Wiseman movies are:

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
The Valachi Papers (1972)
Lawman (1971)
Bye Bye Braverman (1968)
Dr No (1962)
The Unforgiven (1960)
The Garment Jungle (1957)
Three Brave Men (1955)
Les Miserables (1952)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Detective Story (1951)

Joseph Wiseman has had many roles in film and television from the early 1950s until the mid 1990s. His is most well-known for being the villain and title character in the first James Bond movie Dr No in 1962.

Wiseman has had many roles in television including the following popular series:

Crime Story (1986-88)
O’Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971)
NET Playhouse (1970-71)
T.H.E. Cat (1966)
The Twilight Zone (1962)
Adventures in Paradise (1959)
Letter to Loretta (1959)
Matinee Theatre (1958)
Producers’ Showcase (1955)
Inner Sanctum (1954)
Suspense (1950-54)

Wiseman’s last acting performance was in the Broadway production Judgement at Nuremberg in 2001. His last role in television was in the popular series Law & Order in 1996.

Joseph Wiseman died in New York, USA, on 19th October 2009 aged 91.

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