James Bond legend Joe Caroff has died aged 103.
The unsung hero of the iconic film franchise was a largely unknown graphic designer who created the iconic 007 gun logo, as well as film posters for West Side Story and The Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night.
His sons Peter and Michael Caroff told the New York Times that he died in hospice care at his Manhattan home on Sunday, just one day before his 104th birthday.
In 1962, he was asked to create a letterhead for a publicity release linked to Dr. No, which was the first Bond film.
Speaking to James Bond In The Making back in 2021, Caroff recalled: ‘[United Artists executive David Chasman] said, “I need a little decorative thing on top”.
‘I knew [Bond’s] designation was 007, and when I wrote the stem of the seven, I thought, “That looks like the handle of a gun to me.” It was very spontaneous, no effort, it was an instant piece of creativity.’
Caroff was inspired by the Walther PPK, Bond author Ian Fleming’s favourite gun, as he added a barrel and trigger to 007.
He was paid just $300 – which was the going rate at the time – but he didn’t get any credit, residuals or royalties despite the logo being used on every film and pieces of merch all over the world.
‘It was like a little publicity piece for me,’ he acknowledged.
Although he was ignored by Bond bosses for decades, EON Productions along with then-franchise chiefs Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and gifted him an Omega watch complete with a 007 engraving for his 100th birthday.
Sadly, he previously admitted he didn’t save his original sketches and renders over the years.
‘Probably not a smart thing to do, but I never attached what I was doing to any greatness,’ he said. ‘I was just working, period. I was just being an artist.’
His first piece of work in the film world was the iconic poster for West Side Story in 1961, while he went onto create posters for a number of Woody Allen films, plus the likes of A Fistful of Dollars and Too Late To The Hero.
Caroff also worked on the opening title sequences for big movies, ranging from 1977’s A Bridge Too Far, 1985 classic Death of a Salesman, and Martin Scorsese’s 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ.
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