Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character in the James Bond universe. He is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and head of the evil terrorist organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E..

Blofeld usually appears accompanied by a white Persian cat in the films (but not in the novels). It was also briefly a trademark of the Bond films not to show Blofeld's face, only a closeup of Blofeld stroking his cat. This "trademark" was later broken in the film You Only Live Twice and subsequent films.

Blofeld appears in six official James Bond movies as well as Never Say Never Again, the 1983 remake of Thunderball, which makes him the most persistent and arguably greatest of James Bond's enemies.

Biography

Fleming details Blofeld's background in the novel Thunderball; none of his background is ever revealed in the Bond films. Ernst Stavro Blofeld was born on May 28, 1908 to a Polish father and a Greek mother in Gdynia. Blofeld attended the University of Warsaw where he studied economics and political history. He later went to the Warsaw Technical Institute to study engineering and radionics. He then took a communication position with the Polish government, at the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. He began to use his position for insider trading, buying and selling stocks at the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Foreseeing World War II, Blofeld made copies of top-secret wires and sold them to Nazi Germany. Before the German invasion of Poland in 1939, he destroyed all records of his existence, then moved to Turkey, where he worked for Turkish radio and set up an intelligence organization. During the war, he sold information to both sides. After the defeat of Erwin Rommel, he decided to back the Allied war effort; ironically, he was awarded numerous medals by the Allied powers after the war's end. After the war, Blofeld temporarily moved to South America before founding S.P.E.C.T.R.E.

Despite his willingness to murder millions to get what he wants, Blofeld has a few professional scruples. For instance, in the novel Thunderball he learned that during a standard fundraising kidnapping mission of a young girl, the responsible agent had sexual relations with her. Although Blofeld says that the relations may have been "voluntary or involuntary on the girl's part," he had the agent killed as punishment and returned the girl and half the ransom to her father as compensation. His reasons had nothing to do with morality, but rather with the importance of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. being known for keeping their word to those they did their "business" with.

Blofeld timeline
Novel series	Year	Film series	Year
Thunderball	1961	From Russia with Love	1963
On Her Majesty's Secret Service	1963	Thunderball	1965
You Only Live Twice	1964	You Only Live Twice	1967
		On Her Majesty's Secret Service	1969
		Diamonds Are Forever	1971
		For Your Eyes Only (implied)	1981

Novels

In the novel series by Ian Fleming, Blofeld makes three appearances in what is considered the 'Blofeld Trilogy'. Blofeld first appears as the leader of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in Thunderball, however, his role is reduced to a minor character. The plot, formulated by his organization and by him is carried out by his henchman Emilio Largo.

Blofeld is absent from the next book, The Spy Who Loved Me, though its events take place while Bond is searching for Blofeld in North America. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service Bond learns that Blofeld is in hiding in Switzerland under the guise of Comte de Bleuville and defeats his plans to destroy Britain's agricultural economy. In the final sequence of the novel, Blofeld gets revenge by murdering Bond's new wife, Tracy.

In You Only Live Twice, Blofeld returns and is found by Bond to be hiding in Japan under the alias Dr. Guntram Shatterhand. Bond strangles him to death at the end of the novel, making it the villain's last appearance.

Films

In the film series, Blofeld first appears in From Russia with Love, in which he has a very small role. Similarly, he also plays a minor role in Thunderball after a one film absence. Afterwards, Blofeld takes on the role of the main villain in You Only Live Twice and again in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the latter being virtually identical to the novel. Blofeld returns once again in Diamonds Are Forever. Blofeld's final appearance is generally held to be in the pre-title sequence of 1981's For Your Eyes Only where he finally receives his comeuppance for the murder of Bond's wife when he is hurled off a helicopter and into a giant smokestack. For copyright reasons involving Kevin McClory and the film rights to Thunderball (see the controversy over Thunderball) Blofeld's name was never mentioned either verbally or in the final credits of For Your Eyes Only. The only indications that this wheelchair-bound character is Blofeld are the presence of the Persian cat, baldness, and the original trademark of not showing Blofeld's face.

In the films, Blofeld's physical appearance and personality varies wildly due to the change of actors (i.e. Blofeld's scar does not appear in On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Diamonds Are Forever; in On Her Majesty's Secret Service it is revealed that Blofeld has removed his earlobes, but they return in Diamonds Are Forever along with a full head of hair). This is actually in keeping with the Blofeld of Fleming's novels, who is described as drastically changing his personality and appearance in order to hide from Bond.

Blofeld portrayals

Actors who have played Blofeld in the films (order of appearance):

Anthony Dawson — (From Russia with Love) (uncredited; only hands shown)
Eric Pohlmann — (From Russia with Love) (uncredited; voice)
Anthony Dawson — (Thunderball) (uncredited; only hands shown)
Eric Pohlmann — (Thunderball) (uncredited; voice)
Jan Werich
Donald Pleasence — (You Only Live Twice) (replaced Jan Werich)
Telly Savalas — (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
Charles Gray — (Diamonds Are Forever)
- Max Latimer — plays Blofeld's double in Diamonds Are Forever.
John Hollis — (For Your Eyes Only) (uncredited)
Max von Sydow — (Never Say Never Again) (unofficial)

Trivia

Blofeld's birthdate, May 28, 1908, is Ian Fleming's birthdate.
The name Blofeld was inspired by the father of English cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, with whom Fleming went to school.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld and S.P.E.C.T.R.E. were set to be the villains in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, but due to the long-standing controversy over Thunderball, the villain was changed to Karl Stromberg.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld appears in 2004's game Rogue Agent. This time with the likeness of Donald Pleasance.

Imitation and parody

Many of the characteristics of Blofeld have become clichés of supervillains in popular fiction, resulting in the stock character of the evil genius.

The look of Donald Pleasence's Blofeld in You Only Live Twice inspired the look of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films, down to the Nehru jacket, penchant for referring to henchmen by number designations, facial scar, and the Persian cat (which in this version loses all its fur after being cryogenically frozen). This is arguably the 'ultimate' take on the Blofeld character in that it parodies the way his persona has become short-hand for an evil genius in popular culture.
In the first season of the Pokémon TV series, Giovanni, the boss of the Team Rocket, is depicted like Blofeld, hiding in the shadow with a Persian on his lap.
The filming style of not revealing Blofeld's face and his stroking of his cat has inspired a number of imitators, most notably the main villain of Inspector Gadget, Dr. Claw, and his evil organisation, M.A.D.
In the video game Blazing Sword, the main antagonist, Nergal, bears a scar across his right eye that is almost identical to Blofeld's in You Only Live Twice.
In the Police Squad! episode Rendezvous at Big Gulch (Terror in the Neighborhood) the boss of the mobster gang is shown from his neck down, stroking a cat. His face, much like with Blofeld in the movies, is not seen until he bends low - right below the camera's upper rim - to have his face seen while emphasizing his orders to his underlings; an obvious parody to the James Bond movies, in which Blofeld's face is initially never shown.
The arch-villain of the cartoon hero Dangermouse, Baron Greenback, is always seen with a fluffy white caterpillar pet, 'Nero', which is a parody stand-in for the Persian cat.
In the game Fur Fighters, the main villain is a parody of Blofeld's cat, named General Viggo who acts much like Ernst. Viggo's pet is a small mutant wearing Blofeld's jacket and having a scar beneath its eye.
In The Simpsons, Season 8 Episode 2: "You Only Move Twice", Hank Scorpio is a parody of Blofeld.
Savalas's portrayal of Blofeld was Clancy Brown's inspiration for his characterization of Lex Luthor in The Animated Series. He got the role because he reminded series creator Bruce Timm of Savalas's Blofeld, whom Timm saw as a "cultured thug."
In an interview with TV Guide, Julian Sands mentions Pleasance's portrayal of Blofeld as one the inspirations for his portrayal of Russian terrorist Vladimir Bierko on the fifth season of 24.
Vivendi Universal's PC game Evil Genius features a title character with a strong resemblence to Blofeld. In the game, the player must build a secret lair on a remote island and fend off the attacks of superagents while pulling off complex international capers in an ultimate bid for world domination.
The Animaniacs episode From Burbank With Love features a villain named Blowfinger, a cross between Blofeld and Auric Goldfinger.