“All great heroes need an arch-villain – Batman has the Joker, and Sherlock Holmes has Moriarty, to name but two. And iconic British agent James Bond is no different.

Arguably, the greatest threats to 007 (and indeed, the entire world) have been the recurring ones, and with all due respect to metal-mouthed henchman Jaws, Bond baddies don’t come more dangerous than Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The iconic villain has enjoyed almost 60 years as the Bond franchise’s big bad, surviving just as many near-death experiences and reincarnations as 007 himself.

So, as Daniel Craig’s super-spy prepares to square off against his nemesis (Christoph Waltz) yet again in the 25th Bond movie No Time To Die, let’s recap the big screen history of Blofeld.

Donald Pleasence

It’s important to make a strong first impression, and many would argue that Donald Pleasence’s portrayal of the scarred, eloquently-spoken super-villain is the most memorable. The legendary British actor, famous for films including The Great Escape (and, later, Halloween), was the first Blofeld we saw on the big screen, squaring off against Sean Connery’s Bond in 1967’s You Only Live Twice. (He replaced original actor Jan Werich, who was dismissed for not being threatening enough.)”

To read the rest of my brief history of Blofeld for Cineworld Cinemas, please follow this link.