45 years later, George Lazenby recalls playing James Bond

George Lazenby as James Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service George Lazenby as James Bond. On Her Majesty's Secret Service Photo: United Artists 1969 Photo: United Artists 1969 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 45 years later, George Lazenby recalls playing James Bond 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Earlier this week, Daniel Craig slipped on 007’s shoulder holster for the fourth time as filming commenced on the 24th James Bond movie, “SPECTRE.” Craig is the sixth actor to play Ian Fleming’s superspy, and by now it’s accepted that once every few years a new actor will play Bond.

But there was a time when Sean Connery was the only acceptable James Bond. Somebody had to be the first to succeed him, and 45 years ago this month a strapping young male model from Australia with no previous acting experience took that bullet, hitting the screen as James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” one of the most controversial (at the time) and now among the best-loved Bond films among fans.

“It’s got the best story and the best music, and I’m not braggin’ about myself, but I did a pretty good job,” George Lazenby, 75, told The Chronicle during a recent screening of “OHMSS” in Los Angeles as part of Landmark Theatres’ Anniversary Classics Series.

The film screens in San Francisco on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Castro Theatre.

“I was learning as an actor, and I thought the end scene was a good acting piece,” Lazenby said. “Also, I actually could fight. I was brought up in Australia! … We had nothing better to do than fight each other on a Friday night. But there were no guns or knives or anything like that, so it was all good fun.”

The Lazenby-Bond connection was doomed from the start. Lazenby had a falling out with director Peter Hunt early in the shoot, and was often at odds with his producers (Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman) and leading lady (Diana Rigg). He suddenly had a reputation as being difficult, but Lazenby says the professionals on the set could have taken him more under their collective wing.

“I always turned up, I always knew my lines, I didn’t have one day or one minute when I wasn’t available on that Bond film,” Lazenby said. “And not only that, I did my own stunts, which none of the other Bonds did.

“But I was on my own. I hung out with the stuntmen a lot, and the crew drinking at night. And the girls. I was into the girls. I never had a dull moment. Every night I had to give a press interview, because I was the new Bond.”

“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” underperformed at the box office, and the producers paid a huge sum to get Connery back for the next film (“Diamonds Are Forever”). But Lazenby insists it was he who walked away.

“I thought Bond was over,” Lazenby said. “It was Sean Connery’s gig. It was hippie time. 'Easy Rider’ was the No. 1 movie. I thought getting out was a good thing, not doing something wrong.”

After leaving Bond, Lazenby says, he was blacklisted. He went broke, made a few clunky actioners in Hong Kong and Australia (a project with Bruce Lee fell through when Lee died), took small parts in other Hollywood films (“The Kentucky Fried Movie”), then turned to real estate and made a fortune.

He now splits his time between the Los Angeles area, where he is sharing custody of his three children with ex-wife Pam Shriver, a former tennis star, and Australia. He still acts occasionally, and is working on a memoir.

By the way, he likes Craig as Bond. “He learned from me,” Lazenby laughed, and while that might be stretching it, there are a couple of similarities: Craig is the best Bond since Lazenby in hand-to-hand combat, and Craig’s Bond, like Lazenby’s (and unlike Connery’s or Roger Moore’s) has a softer, emotional side. He can be hurt.

Lazenby might wish he had made more Bond films, but says that while he made mistakes, he doesn’t have any regrets. He can look back at his unconventional life journey with pride, and here’s why:

“In 1965, I met an Australian actor who dropped LSD in my tea,” Lazenby said. “And I had never heard of the stuff. … Next thing, I was floating on an acid trip. When I came out of it, I knew I wasn’t the person I thought I was. And all of the programming as a child — in school, in the military — dropped off and I had to reassess myself.

“In other words, a new character arrived. … I dropped my nationality, I dropped my identity, and there was just the spirit in my body. And then whenever I wanted anything, I could get it — provided I never thought about it.

“I just went for it.”

G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BRfilmsAllen

If you go

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, on a double bill with “A View to a Kill” (3:30 p.m., 8:40 p.m.). The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. (415) 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com.