The character of suave, sophisticated assassin Francisco Pistols Scaramanga in James Bond novel The Man with the Golden Gun was named after an alleged school rival of author Ian Fleming.
London, Aug. 9 : The character of suave, sophisticated assassin Francisco 'Pistols' Scaramanga in James Bond novel 'The Man with the Golden Gun' was named after an alleged school rival of author Ian Fleming.
George Ambrose Scaramanga studied with Fleming at Eton College in the 1920s.
But leave aside being evil, George's grandson Dave insists that his grandfather was a gentleman, who became rector of the Hampshire village of Abbots Ann.
"All in all, he couldn't have been any more different from the Bond villain," the Daily Mail quoted Dave Scaramanga as saying.
It, however, still remains to be determined as to why Fleming linked George with an assassin.
"Fleming would have recognised Scaramanga for the brilliant name that it is, and the fact that he is a villain need not reflect badly on his schoolmate," Henry Chancellor, author of James Bond - the Man and his World, said.
Dave believes that Fleming, who is said to have been expelled from Eton for bad behaviour, resented his grandfather.
"I think it was just because they were very different. My grandfather was a model student at school. He was quiet, well-behaved and studious - the complete opposite of Mr Fleming. Fleming was supposedly a bit of a tear-away and my grandad was a well-mannered, old-fashioned kind of gent," Dave said.
"And when I knew him as a child he was a softly-spoken, gentle old man. He survived the Second World War, was awarded the Military Cross and ended his days as a country vicar," he added.
Dave, however, admits that he does not know exactly as to why his grandfather and Fleming hated each other.
"My grandfather died years ago so I never really had time to ask him why he and Fleming hated each other," he said.
He also said that people often enquire about his name, and that he likes sharing a name with a Bond villain.
The Man with the Golden Gun was Fleming's 13th and final James Bond novel and was published in 1965, the year after the author died. In the movie version, Scaramanga charges a million dollars for each kill using a gold-plated gun that fires a golden bullet.
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