---
name: "Gary Bond"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/gary-bond"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "7 February 1940"
died: "12 October 1995"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T10:52:26.472668+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Gary Bond

Actor. Born 7 February 1940 in Liss, Hampshire, England, UK. Died 12 October 1995.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 7 February 1940, Liss, Hampshire, England, UK
- **Died:** 12 October 1995
- **Also known as:** Gary James Bond

## Fi1m on Gary Bond

> Gary Bond's stiffness in *Wake in Fright* makes a schoolteacher's superiority look dangerously fragile. His film work was scarce, but this lead performance gives us ample reason to regret that: he keeps a difficult man worth watching without asking us to like him.

Gary Bond's John Grant holds himself apart from the men around him. He is a British schoolteacher in the Australian outback, where Ted Kotcheff's *Wake in Fright* (1971) makes the offer of a drink feel dangerous. The teacher's good opinion of himself is already a weakness, though he would scarcely recognise it. Bond makes his stiffness a sign of brittle certainty, keeping the character interesting without making him especially likeable. It is a fine use of an actor's restraint, and the performance we would send people to first.

That central role came after Private Cole in *Zulu* (1964), his film debut, and Mark Smeaton in *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969). Film work was a small part of a career spent chiefly in classical and musical theatre, including work with the RSC. He followed *Wake in Fright* by originating the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat* (1972). The few film appearances make a sweeping judgement unwise. We can say that Kotcheff gave him a difficult lead, and that Bond sustains our interest without softening the man's snobbery.

Kotcheff puts Grant under pressure through the ordinary business of men buying one another drinks. We were unnerved by how little protection Bond's stiff self-assurance offered once accepting a drink became an obligation. Donald Pleasence's alcoholic Doc Tydon makes an effective counterpart: intelligence has done nothing to make him decent company. Pleasence allows us to understand why someone might stay near the doctor despite his repellent behaviour. Beside him, Grant's conviction that he is somehow different looks increasingly difficult to defend.

The film does sometimes repeat its lessons about men until they grow predictable. Bond's performance survives that heavy-handedness because Grant's weakness is visible in the way he carries himself; we do not need the point explained again. We would start with *Wake in Fright* for the sustained discomfort of being kept close to this man. Its real animal cruelty, however, is a warning to take seriously.

## Biography

Gary Bond (also credited as Gary James Bond) was an English actor and singer. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and began his career in theatre, with early roles including Pip in the Royal Court production of *Chips with Everything* (1962) and its Broadway transfer.

Bond originated the title role in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat*. His film appearances include Private Cole in *Zulu* (1964), Mark Smeaton in *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969) and the lead role of John Grant in the Australian film *Wake in Fright* (1971). He also appeared in television series including *The Avengers*, *Hart to Hart*, *Hammer House of Horror* and *Tales of the Unexpected*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Wake in Fright* (1971), Fi1m 86, as John Grant — [page](https://film.one/film/wake-in-fright.md)

## Also known for

- *Zulu* (1964), Pvt. Cole
- *The Avengers* (1961), Proctor
- *Anne of the Thousand Days* (1969), Smeaton
- *Hart to Hart* (1979), Arthur Lovejoy
- *Hammer House of Horror* (1980), Terence Morton
- *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), Max de Marechal

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/gary-bond