Q Killed

Desmond Llewelyn - aka Q from the Bond films - died yesterday in a car crash while driving home from a book signing. The 85-year-old actor, who appeared in all but two of the the Bond films, was alone in his car when it was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle. > Though Llewelyn was airlifted to hospital by the East Sussex air ambulance service, he died on arrival. Tributes are being heaped upon the actor, whose memorable performance as inventor Q belied his own dislike of gadgets. Llewelyn's biographer Sandy Hernu, told the BBC, "Unlike his character he hated gadgets - they just were not him" She added that Llewelyn was "a lovely man, absolutely genuine and kind person, one of the kindest people I have met. He was enormously funny and entertaining and loved telling me lots of stories, and was great fun to be with." Born in Wales in 1914, Llewelyn studied at RADA, and though his family tried to persuade him to become a policeman, he was relieved when he failed the eye test. He took a break from the stage to join up in 1940, and spent five years as prisoner of war in a German POW camp, resuming his acting career when the war ended. He first worked in movies as a bit part actor - an early role included an uncredited part in the Titanic film **A Night to Remember **- before his first Bond film, From Russia With Love, in 1963. His appearance in the latest 007 movie, The World is Not Enough, was expected to be the last time that Llewelyn would play the sharp-tongued boffin. Desmond Llewelyn 1924 - 1999