John Cleese wanted him to play the part of Jesus in the Monty Python movie, Life of Brian (1979). Cleese said in his opinion it would be absolutely hilarious to have Lazenby portray Christ, and he wanted the tag line of the film to be "George Lazenby IS Jesus Christ." But when the film's producers contacted his agent they were informed that he was overseas working on another film project and was unavailable. Kenneth Colley was then cast as Jesus.
Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, remarked that Lazenby could have been the best Bond had he not quit after just one film.
Broke a stuntman's nose during a Bond fight screen test, and it was this physical strength that finalized his selection as Bond.
Competes on the senior circuit in off-road dirt bike racing, and in stock car racing. George has won several celebrity stock car races and dirt-bike races, as well as amateur and professional races in both.
Competitor in the senior off-road dirt-bike and stock car racing circuits.
During the 1970s and 1980s he raced motorcycles and in the 1990s he backed a restaurant chain, the Spy House.
Earlier in life, Lazenby donated a kidney to a family member.
Except for TV commercials, he had no previous acting experience when he was cast as James Bond.
First non-British actor to portray James Bond.
Has a daughter named Melanie Andrea from his first marriage to Christina Gannett. She was born on September 13, 1973. Melanie is currently one of Manhattan's top real estate agents.
He has a black belt in karate.
He holds the unique distinction of having been both The Marlboro Man and James Bond, as he played 007 in one film and was also the European Marlboro Man.
He is a big fan of Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt.
He is estimated to be the wealthiest actor to have played James Bond.
He owns mansions in Hawaii, Brentwood, California, Australia, and a 600 acre estate/ranch in Southern Caifornia.
He says that his favorite Bond film is Goldfinger (1964).
He was a close personal friend of Bruce Lee. He met Lee in 1972 and the two became fast friends. Lazenby studied Lee's personal martial arts and philosophical teaching of "Jeet Kune Do" under Lee until the time of Lee's death in 1973. Lazenby was actually going to have dinner with Bruce the night he died. Lazenby would later say that it was Lee's teachings that allowed him to go on to have such a successful business career and personal life.
He was a martial arts instructor in the Australian army, and holds more than one black belt in the martial arts. He studied martial arts under Bruce Lee himself.
He was Golden Harvest studios original replacement for Bruce Lee after Lee died. Lazenby had already signed a contract with the studio to co-star with Lee in The Game of Death (1978), but Lee died during filming. Lazenby then replaced Lee in what was to be Lee's next film, "The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss", Stoner (1974). After that film, Yu Wang was signed to replace Lee and Lazenby moved back to his original co-starring role as the "Western Adversary". This makes Lazenby the actor that first replaced Sean Connery as James Bond and also the actor that first replaced Bruce Lee as Golden Harvest's martial arts action hero after Lee's death. Many subsequent actors would then follow Lazenby playing Bond as well as imitating Bruce Lee.
He was offered a seven-movie deal by the Bond producers, but quit the role because he felt that the tuxedo-clad Bond would die out in the new hippie culture that had permeated society in the late 1960s and early 1970s.