Charles Gray
(Ernst Stavro Blofeld) images

film information

Ernst Stavro Blofeld played by Charles Gray is the main villain of Diamonds Are Forever. The third actor to play this role, the pre-title sequence is concerned with Bond killing Blofeld for the death of his wife. After Bond kills who he thinks is Blofeld (very easily), Bond encounters the real Blofeld much later in the film where Blofeld has stolen the identity of Willard Whyte.

Blofeld sets into operation a complex diamond smuggling chain through many contacts sending diamonds from Africa, through Europe, to America. After constructing and launching a satellite into space, Blofeld threatens to destroy Washington DC using his Diamond Laser Satellite unless his demands for money are met. Bond manages to foil Blofelds plan by sending Blofelds escape Bathosub crashing into the control centre, although the fate of Blofeld himself remains uncertain.

character information

The third and final actor to play the head of SPECTRE, Charles Gray portrays the least convincing Blofeld in the series. Blofeld is no longer menacing like Donald Pleasance, he has charm like Telly Savalas but too much so. Letting all his henchmen do the work for him, Blofeld becomes disappointingly very weak when he fights Bond personally. Even the SPECTRE agents that surround Blofeld seem uninspired second grade compared to that of You Only Live Twice or On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The last straw in the coffin has to be Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, dressing in drag. All creditability to the character that employed great classic villains like Dr. No, Rosa Klebb and Emilio Largo is lost. While Charles Gray is a good actor, the character of Mr Henderson in You Only Live Twice is much better. §

Images

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