Robert Davi is Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill (1989)

In Licence to Kill (1989)
Robert Davi is Franz Sanchez

Robert Davi is a prominent American actor who has appeared in almost sixty movies. One of his popular film roles was playing villain Franz Sanchez in the James Bond movie Licence to Kill (1989).

Davi was born in New York City, USA, in the borough of Queens on June 26th 1953. His first film was the 1982 crime drama Gangster Wars in which he plays the character of Vito Genovese.

Robert Davi is Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill (1989)

“Something you'd better understand, amigo.
Loyalty is more important to me than money.”

One of Davi's latest movies is the 2011 action hit Kill the Irishman, a film that stars another James Bond villain, Christopher Walken.

Popular Robert Davi movies include:

Kill the Irishman (2011)
The Dukes (2007)
Predator 2 (1990)
Licence to Kill (1989)
Die Hard (1988)
The Goonies (1985)

In Licence to Kill (1989), Davi appeared as James Bond villain Franz Sanchez, a powerful South American drug lord.

Davi is one of the most convincing adversaries James Bond encounters in the 007 series. Sanchez was known for arranging horrific deaths for individuals that failed him and remembered for his interesting traits.

Robert Davi has acted in nearly twenty television movies. He received widespread acclaim for his role as terrorist Salim Ajami in a 1988 award winning TV motion picture.

Some of Davi's well-received TV films are:

The Beneficiary (1997)
White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991)
Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salam Ajami (1988)
The Rousters (1983)
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980)
… And Your Name is Jonah (1979)
Contract on Cherry Street (1977)

Robert Davi has appeared in more than thirty television series. His most prominent role was in Profiler (1996-2000) where he starred as FBI profiler Bailey Malone for 82 episodes.

Davi has appeared in various TV series including:

Criminal Minds (2010)
Stargate: Atlantis (2004-08)
Profiler (1996-2000)
The Pretender (1999-2000)
Wiseguy (1989)
The Fall Guy (1984-85)
T.J. Hooker (1982-84)
Bay City Blues (1983)
St. Elsewhere (1982)

Robert Davi supports a variety of charities including The Dream Foundation, The National Italian American Foundation and Unico National.

In May 2011, Robert Davi attended the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) West Coast Gala in Santa Monica, California.

Davi received the Best New Male Vocalist Award at the Malibu Music Awards in September 2011.

In October 2011 Robert Davi's album Davi Sings Sinatra: On The Road To Happiness was released.

Franz Sanchez

Franz Sanchez is the villain James Bond challenges in the 1989 film Licence to Kill. He is portrayed by American actor Robert Davi and known for believing that loyalty is more important than money.

As an influential drug baron, Sanchez plans a huge cocaine smuggling operation that involves dissolving the drug in petrol and transporting it by tanker trucks.

Known for bribing or killing various government agents, Sanchez rarely visits the United States as he faces more than 100 counts of felony and over 900 hundred years in jail.

Sanchez is protected by a substantial army in the country of Isthmus in South America where he has full control over residing President Hector Lopez (Pedro Armendáriz Junior). He owns various properties including a casino, a large bank, and a luxurious home.

Using his casino and the services of Professor Joe Butcher (Wayne Newton), a well-known televangelist, Sanchez sells his cocaine throughout the world.

When Franz Sanchez visits the United States, he finds his girlfriend Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto) sleeping with another man and takes revenge by whipping her.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) learns of Sanchez's location and tracks him to the Sugarloaf Airport in the Florida Keys. Sanchez manages to escape in a Cessna 172 airplane, but is captured mid-air by a US Coast Guard helicopter manned by Felix Leiter (David Hedison), and James Bond (Timothy Dalton).

Later that day in Key West, Ed Killifer (Everett McGill), a bribed DEA officer, drives the prison transport van off a bridge into the ocean allowing Sanchez to escape custody.

Sanchez then takes swift retribution by murdering Leiter's bride, Della (Priscilla Barnes), and feeding Leiter to sharks at Milton Krest's (Anthony Zerbe) Wavekrest marine research warehouse in Key West.

James Bond takes matters into his own hands and goes after Franz Sanchez on his own. He interferes with one of the villain's cocaine operations in the Florida Keys by destroying several packages of the drug and stealing the payment funds.

With assistance from CIA agent Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), Agent 007 travels to Isthmus City to pursue Sanchez. The drug lord meets Bond at his casino and is surprised when 007 offers him his services.

Sanchez meets with several drug dealers from across Asia to set up a drug empire across the Pacific. He informs them they will contribute $100 million each and will be given a tour of his drug distribution centre.

Believing 007 thwarted an attempt on his life, Sanchez welcomes Bond into his inner circle and lets him stay in his lavish residence. 007 however, is deceitfully setting up distrust among Sanchez and his henchmen.

Bond joins the drug lord in travelling to the Olimpatec Meditation Institute, the location for Sanchez's drug laboratories. Here, 007 is nearly killed by Dario (Benicio Del Toro), the villain's top henchman, who traps him in a cocaine shredding device.

Bond survives and follows the convoy of tanker trucks that are transporting the cocaine to the harbour. Before leaving the base, Sanchez learns his security chief, Heller (Don Stroud), has tried to steal his stinger missiles. The ruthless drug baron quickly arranges for him to be killed with the blade of a forklift.

As Bond begins his assault on the fleet of tankers, Sanchez becomes increasingly frustrated with his whinging financial adviser William Truman-Lodge (Anthony Starke) and kills him with a machine gun.

Pam Bouvier provides assistance from the air in a crop-duster plane while James Bond systematically destroys each of the tankers. In a gripping finale Franz Sanchez is eventually killed when 007 sets him on fire.

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