Co-starring Scottish James Bond actor Pedro Armendariz, who played Ali Karim Bey, head of MI6 Station T in Istanbul. Unfortunately, the Mexican actor, who had a great role in the movie, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In 1956, he had a role in John Wayne’s The Conqueror, Genghis Khan, which was filming in Utah while the US government was conducting atmospheric nuclear tests in one state in Nevada.
Tragically, within 25 years of production, 91 of the 220 workers on the film developed cancer, of which 46 died from it. A few years later, Pedro developed neck cancer at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, which was diagnosed as inoperable. However, the Mexican actor was determined to get as much as possible for his role in From Russia with Love as soon as possible despite his struggles, to provide for his wife’s financial security. Filming for the Sean Connery James Bond movie in Istanbul soon closed and he moved to Britain, where Pedro’s scenes were moved forward so he could complete as much as possible while still being able to physically.
When he got to the point where he could no longer work, Pedro was a stunt double and even director Terrence Young would stand in for him for the final two months of production. Unable to continue and with only weeks left to live, the Bond actor headed to a hospital near his home. There, the Mexican actor smuggled a gun and died by suicide on June 18, 1963 at the age of 51.
After the untimely loss of Pedro, From Russia with Love had to do uncredited rewrites by Berkely Mather during filming. Peter Hunt began editing the film despite the shoot being behind schedule and over budgets in an effort to meet an already premiere date. He helped reconstruct the opening scenes of the Connery Bond film with one suggestion from Young.
Read more: Sean Connery’s incredible generosity in the final James Bond performance
This led to the 007 film tradition to this day, when Red Grant’s training sequence was changed to before the opening address sequence. Interestingly enough, Pedro Armendarez Jr. ended up playing President Hector Lopez in Timothy Dalton’s second Bond movie, 1989’s License to Kill. Pedro Jr. went on to appear in films like Amistad, The Mask of Zorro, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Sadly, he was also diagnosed with cancer in November 2011 and passed away a month later at the age of 71. His father buried him in the Pantheon Jardin in Mexico City.
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