Broccoli, Albert "Cubby"

Born: April 5, 1909

Producer of all James Bond movies
Born in Long Island, USA

Albert Romolo Broccoli known to millions of movie fans as "Cubby" Broccoli (a nickname used by a cousin), produced more than forty movies, but will be remembered by most for his contribution to one of the most successful film franchises in history, James Bond.

Broccoli was born into an Italian-American family on Long Island. The family moved to Florida, and on the death of his father Giovanni, Albert moved to live with his grandmother in Astoria, Queens in New York City.

In 1940 at the age of 31, Cubby married actress Gloria Blondell and later divorced in 1945. Having worked many jobs, including spending some time as a casket maker, Albert became involved in the film industry. He started at the bottom working as a gofer on the 1941 film The Outlaw. Here he met Howard Hughes who oversaw production of the movie when the director Howard Hawks was fired.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941, Albert joined the United States Navy, returning to Hollywood when peace was achieved in 1945 to work as an agent at the Famous Artists Agency.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Albert moved once more, this time to London. A shrewd businessman, he was able to make good use of the subsidy given by the British government to subsidise films made in the UK with British casts and crews. In 1951 Broccoli married Nedra Clark, she would later pass away after giving birth to his daughter Tina.

In the 1960s Cubby met and married Dana Wilson.

In 1962 Broccoli teamed with Harry Saltzman to create the production company, EON Productions and its parent company Danjaq, L.L.C.. Broccoli produced the first James Bond movie, Dr. No in 1962, and his involvement in the series continued until his death. His family, particularly daughter Barbara Broccoli and stepson Michael G. Wilson, have since produced the James Bond films.

Besides the Bond movies, Broccoli produced the Dick Van Dyke classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, from the book by James Bond author Ian Fleming and the Bob Hope film Call Me Bwana, the only film made by EON Productions outside of the James Bond franchise.

In 1981, he was honored with The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work in film and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Broccoli died at his home in Beverly Hills in 1996 and was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Taken from Wikipedia

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