STASSINO, PAUL

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

(1930–June 28, 2012): Greek Cypriot actor who portrayed dashing NATO aerial observer Major François Derval in Thunderball. He also portrayed Derval’s plastic-surgery-aided duplicate, SPECTRE mercenary Angelo Palazzi, who, while posing as the NATO observer, hijacks a bomber to the Caribbean with nuclear bombs on board.

A native of Limassol, Cyprus, Stassino made his big-screen debut in the action adventure Night Ambush (1957), which also featured future Bond players Christopher Lee (The Man with the Golden Gun) and George Pravda (Thunderball).

SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app