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  1. Albert R. Broccoli Plaque Unveiled In Berkshire

    By Devin Zydel on 2009-04-07

    Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were joined by James Bond film alumni today in Berkshire, UK to unveil a special plaque dedicated to their father, Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

    Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

    Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson

    BBC Berkshire reports that the plaque for Broccoli–whose centenary took place this past Sunday–was unveiled in the town of Wokingham at Glebelands, the film and TV industry retirement and care home.

    Glebelands received a £1 million cash donation from the Albert R. Broccoli and Dana Broccoli Foundation, and the plaque officially marked the renaming of the Cloisters building at Glebelands as the Broccoli Cloisters.

    Barbara Broccoli said: ‘The Bond films were made in Great Britain, they were started by my father Albert Broccoli, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1952 and felt England was home.’

    ‘He felt that he was very lucky and had a wonderful professional career here and always wanted to support the people in the industry that helped make him a successful producer.’

    Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli Plaque

    Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli Plaque

    Also attending the event was Samantha Bond, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in all of Pierce Brosnan’s 007 films as well as Lewis Gilbert, director of You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker–and a Glebelands resident himself.

    ‘And what fantastic films they turned out to be,’ he said, ‘and not because I directed them, but because Albert Broccoli produced them.’

    He continued: ‘I directed 40 films, but why is it that the three Bond films that I worked on–they live in my memory so much. It’s because of something very unique in the film industry and that was Broccoli himself.’

    ‘I’ve made many films with every kind of producer that there was but Broccoli had something that was a very rare commodity as a film producer–he cared, he cared for the unit, he was unique in the way he behaved with the unit and the way the unit loved him.’

    Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli

    Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli

    ‘Units don’t love the producer, he’s there to bully them and make them work harder, but Broccoli had this unique way of talking to people, you knew he cared whether you were happy or unhappy.’

    Wilson, who mentioned that his step-father was actively involved in the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), which runs Glebelands, said: ‘I think it’s been fantastic to come out here and see this place, we met the residents, we looked in the rooms, this is something that Cubby and his wife Dana would’ve loved to have seen.’

    ‘They were always interested in the welfare of the people in the industry, they were always lending a helping hand. Cubby was a governor of the CTBF and this is something that he would have been very proud of.’

    Barbara Broccoli agreed: ‘I’m feeling very proud, today were are kicking off the Albert R Broccoli centenary year and I feel this is an appropriate way of doing it, and if he were here, this is what he’d be doing.’

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