Ernst Stavro Blofeld: The Mastermind Behind SPECTRE
Ernst Stavro Blofeld stands as the notorious mastermind and leader of the global criminal syndicate SPECTRE, leaving an indelible mark on the world of James Bond.
Conceived by the creative minds of Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory, Blofeld emerged as a formidable adversary in six films from EON Productions’ classic era (1962-2002): From Russia with Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and For Your Eyes Only (1981).
Initially shrouded in mystery and brought to life by Anthony Dawson and Eric Pohlmann (voice), Blofeld later manifested on screen through the performances of Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, and Charles Gray.
In For Your Eyes Only, John Hollis and Robert Rietty (voice) portrayed a final, unnamed iteration of the character, marking the end of an era as Bond hooked him up and put him down a chimney.
After years of legal disputes over character ownership, Blofeld was eventually reimagined for the Daniel Craig era of James Bond films with Christoph Waltz assuming the iconic role in the movie Spectre (2015) and then in No Time To Die (2021), but with a twist.
In this post, we’ll take a deeper look into the character Ernst Stavro Blofeld, each of his appearances in Bond films, the actors who played him, and also look at the indelible mark the character has made on the Bond franchise.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Bond Movies
From Russia with Love
In From Russia with Love (1963), the enigmatic Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who’s only referred to as ‘Number 1’, makes his debut with a shroud of mystery. His face remains hidden, and only his lower body is visible as he pets his iconic white Persian cat while discussing a scheme to avenge the death of SPECTRE member Doctor Julius No.
The plan involves pitting Bond and Soviet cypher clerk Tatiana Romanova against each other, making it appear as if they killed one another during their escape, thereby escalating Cold War tensions.
To execute this plot, Number 1 appoints Rosa Klebb, a former SMERSH operative and SPECTRE’s Number 3, to oversee Kronsteen’s plan to manipulate Bond into stealing the Lektor cryptographic device from the Soviets. But, Bond thwarts their scheme, defeating SPECTRE assassin Red Grant and absconding with the Lektor.
As a result, Blofeld summons Kronsteen and Klebb, who both blame each other for the operation’s failure. Ultimately, Blofeld orders the execution of Kronsteen for underestimating Bond’s capabilities.
Morzeny, a henchman of Blofeld’s, kills Kronsteen with a poison-tipped blade, prompting Blofeld to coldly remark on the need for a faster-acting venom. He then directs Klebb to personally kill Bond, but this too ends in failure, as Tatiana kills Klebb instead.
Throughout From Russia with Love, Blofeld’s character is portrayed by Anthony Dawson, with his voice provided by Eric Pohlmann.
Thunderball
In Thunderball (1965), Ernst Stavro Blofeld resurfaces after being absent in Goldfinger. Again, he only plays a small role, and his identity remains hidden behind shutters and glass as he chairs a gathering of SPECTRE’s highest-ranking members in a secretive boardroom located in Paris.
During the meeting, Blofeld scrutinizes the organization’s various money-generating projects and unearths an embezzlement scheme involving two operatives. He ruthlessly dispatches the guilty party via electrocution.
With matters settled, Blofeld invites Emilio Largo, SPECTRE’s Number 2, to outline their plot to purloin two atomic warheads with the intention of extorting the United Kingdom. In these early appearances, Blofeld sports a black business suit, in contrast to the Nehru jacket or Mao suit he later becomes synonymous with, and although we don’t see his face, we can see that he has a full head of dark hair. Again, Anthony Dawson portrays Blofeld, with Eric Pohlmann providing the voice.
You Only Live Twice
In You Only Live Twice (1967), Ernst Stavro Blofeld emerges as the central antagonist, portrayed by the captivating Donald Pleasence. His portrayal has become the quintessential image of Blofeld for many Bond aficionados, and it has inspired numerous cultural parodies, such as Austin Powers’ infamous Doctor Evil.
Seemingly exasperated by the failed schemes and deaths of Dr. No, Rosa Klebb, and Emilio Largo, Blofeld takes matters into his own hands. Operating from a massive rocket launch facility hidden inisde a dormant volcano, Blofeld attempts to incite war between the United States and the Soviet Union on behalf of an unnamed third party by hijacking their space capsules. James Bond, having faked his death, is sent to investigate.
Watch the scene as Blofeld introduces himself to Bond
Blofeld’s associate, Osato, recognizes Bond and instructs his assistant, Helga Brandt, to kill him. However, Brandt fails after becoming intimate with 007 and eventually meets her demise in Blofeld’s piranha tank as punishment for her failure.
As tensions rise, Bond infiltrates the volcano lair and tries to board SPECTRE’s spacecraft. A small error alerts Blofeld, who brings Bond to him and sends a reserve astronaut in his place.
It’s here that Bond meets Blofeld for the first time, and we see him up close for the first time, and some of his most iconic lines. He reveals his name and plans to Bond, intending to kill him after capturing the final space capsule and igniting a global conflict by destroying the spacecraft. As Bond’s allies attempt to storm the crater, Blofeld orders the use of the facility’s firepower against them.
As a last request before he’s killed, Bond asks to smoke, and Blofeld unknowingly allows him to use a weaponized cigarette to cause an explosion and escape his captors.
Blofeld, initially feeling secure, realizes he needs to flee. He departs the control room with Osato and Bond at gunpoint, ultimately shooting Osato in a display of SPECTRE’s retribution for failure. As Blofeld boards a monorail car and tries to shoot Bond, Tiger Tanaka intervenes, throwing a star into Blofeld’s wrist and forcing him to drop his weapon.
The car speeds away, and as he reaches an isolated section of the base, Blofeld activates the self-destruct system and escapes. Though Blofeld evades capture, Bond manages to destroy the rocket remotely, thwarting the villain’s plans.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Ernst Stavro Blofeld takes center stage as the primary villain yet again. This time portrayed by Telly Savalas, who replaced Donald Pleasence to offer a more physical and imposing version of the character.
The British Secret Service launches an international manhunt for Blofeld, codenamed Operation Bedlam. In response, Blofeld creates a clinical allergy-research institute on the Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps.
James Bond, played by George Lazenby, investigating Swiss lawyer Gumbold’s office, discovers that Blofeld is dealing with genealogist Sir Hilary Bray to claim the aristocratic title “Comte Balthazar de Bleuchamp.”
Bond travels to Switzerland, impersonating Bray to investigate Blofeld, who has even had his earlobes surgically removed to support his claims of nobility.
Bond uncovers Blofeld’s secret plan to contaminate and sterilize the world’s food supply using biological warfare, executed by his brainwashed Angels of Death. Blofeld demands a pardon for his past crimes and recognition as the current Count de Bleauchamp, or else he will carry out his plan.
Bond’s ploy to lure Blofeld out of Switzerland for an MI6 arrest fails, and henchwoman Irma Bunt captures him. Blofeld, having identified Bond after his ruse, orders his men to arrest him. Bond escapes by skiing down Piz Gloria, and is pursued by Blofeld and his henchmen.
With the help of his future wife, Tracy, Bond continues his flight the next morning. However, Blofeld intercepts them, triggering an avalanche that results in Tracy’s capture and Bond’s burial, though he manages to escape.
Despite M’s orders, Bond enlists Marc-Ange Draco and his Unione Corse forces to attack Piz Gloria and rescue Tracy. The facility is destroyed, and Blofeld flees in a bobsleigh, with Bond in pursuit. The chase culminates in Blofeld becoming ensnared in a tree branch, seemingly killing him.
Bond and Tracy marry in Portugal, but their happiness is short-lived as Blofeld, who’s wearing a neck brace, and Bunt conduct a drive-by shooting of the couple’s car, killing Tracy while Bond survives.
Diamonds Are Forever
In Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Ernst Stavro Blofeld returns as the primary antagonist, this played by Charles Gray. Pursued relentlessly by James Bond (Sean Connery), Blofeld resorts to creating identical decoys of himself through plastic surgery.
Bond tracks down Blofeld’s operations to a hidden facility where these lookalikes are being created. After drowning a test subject and killing a second decoy, Bond mistakenly assumes he has killed the real Blofeld.
However, the real Blofeld continues to evade capture, kidnapping and impersonating reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte. Operating from Whyte’s hotel penthouse and utilizing the industrialist’s vast resources, Blofeld constructs a Diamond Satellite, intending to auction off nuclear supremacy to the highest bidder.
To build this weapon, Blofeld establishes a diamond smuggling pipeline that transports South African diamonds to Willard Whyte’s Techtronics factory in California. Following the pipeline trail, 007 infiltrates Willard Whyte’s penthouse apartment, only to be unexpectedly confronted by two identical Blofelds.
Bond eliminates one of the doppelgängers, but it turns out to be another decoy. He’s then incapacitated by gas and left to die in a pipeline by Blofeld’s assassins, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, played by Bruce Glover and Putter Smith respectively.
Bond manages to escape and locate Whyte, but Blofeld retreats to his oil platform off the coast of Baja California, kidnapping Bond’s smuggler ally, Tiffany Case, in the process.
With the satellite now in orbit, Blofeld destroys nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union, China and the United States, proposing an international auction. Bond travels to the oil platform and is captured while attempting to sabotage the weapon.
Shortly after, Felix Leiter and the CIA launch a helicopter attack on the rig. Amidst the chaos, Blofeld tries to escape using a one-man submarine, but Bond takes control of the submarine’s launch crane and crashes the sub into the control room, destroying both the satellite control and the base.
For Your Eyes Only
In For Your Eyes Only (1981), Ernst Stavro Blofeld resurfaces after more than 10 years to exact revenge on James Bond for foiling his plans and causing the downfall of his criminal organization.
Now wheelchair-bound, bald, and wearing a neck brace, Blofeld rigs a “Universal Exports” emblazoned Bell 206 helicopter with remote control hardware and remotely electrocutes the pilot after picking up 007.
Taking control of the chopper over a London gasworks, Blofeld plays with Bond before trying to crash it into a warehouse. However, Bond regains control of the helicopter and impales Blofeld’s wheelchair on its landing gear, lifting him into the skies.
After taunting his nemesis, Bond drops the Blofeld down a tall chimney, killing him from the impact and getting revenge for Tracy’s death all those years ago.
For legal reasons, he wasn’t called Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and he was played by John Hollis albeit uncredited. It is thought that the scene, which saw him killed off, all within in the pre-title sequence, was due to the ongoing legal dispute over the rights, as Eon wanted to prove they could manage without using Blofeld.
Spectre
By November 2013, the legal complications were settled with Danjaq and MGM acquiring the full copyright to the characters and concepts of Blofeld and SPECTRE, and so a new revamped version of both was used for the first time in name since Diamonds Are Forever.
The movie Spectre (not all capitals) and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, portrayed by Christoph Waltz, were back with a new background story.
In this continuity, Blofeld is born as Franz Oberhauser, the son of Hannes Oberhauser, who becomes James Bond’s legal guardian after Bond is orphaned at the age of 11. This makes Bond and Blofeld adoptive brothers.
Blofeld resents Bond for being his father’s favorite, which leads him to murder his father, stage his own death, and take on the alias “Ernst Stavro Blofeld” derived from his mother’s lineage. He assembles a global criminal organization known as Spectre, which is connected to the villains of the previous Craig films.
Bond encounters Blofeld while investigating the terrorist network, eventually discovering that Blofeld is trying to take control of Nine Eyes, a global surveillance program, by staging terrorist attacks to justify its existence.
Bond and Madeleine Swann confront Blofeld at his desert base, where he gloats about being responsible for several tragedies in Bond’s life, including the deaths of Vesper Lynd and the previous M, played by Judi Dench.
Blofeld tortures Bond by strapping him to a mechanical chair programmed to surgically remove his eyes. Bond manages to destroy the chair with an exploding watch, which severely injures Blofeld’s right eye and leaves him with a vertical scar.
Blofeld escapes in his helicopter but is shot down by Bond, who decides to spare his life. The current M (Ralph Fiennes) arrests Blofeld and takes him into custody.
No Time To Die
In No Time to Die, Ernst Stavro Blofeld returns, once again portrayed by Christoph Waltz. Having been imprisoned and held in solitary confinement at Belmarsh prison for five years, Blofeld covertly runs Spectre while pretending to be insane.
He has his operatives steal the “Heracles” bioweapon and orchestrates a plan to infect and kill Bond during a meeting with high-ranking Spectre agents. However, Lyutsifer Safin, played by Rami Malek, sabotages Blofeld’s plan as an act of vengeance for the murder of his entire family by Mr. White under Blofeld’s orders.
Safin manipulates rogue MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev to alter the bioweapon, causing it to kill all Spectre agents instead of Bond. Safin then forces Madeleine Swann to infect Blofeld with a strain of Heracles targeting his DNA.
During Bond’s interrogation of Blofeld, Swann unknowingly passes the bioweapon to him before deciding against following Safin’s plan. Blofeld confesses that he manipulated Bond into thinking Swann betrayed him five years prior, leading them to the end their relationship.
Enraged, Bond begins to choke Blofeld, causing him to contract the infection. Blofeld succumbs to the bioweapon within seconds and dies shortly after.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld – The Origins and Story
Ernst Stavro Blofeld was created during Ian Fleming’s collaboration with Irish producer Kevin McClory and screenwriter Jack Whittingham for a Bond film script. There’s been a lot of debate about who actually created the character, but it seems like Kevin McClory had a big hand in it, and this led to all the legal implications.
Blofeld’s last name originates from the surname of a school bully at Sunningdale Preparatory School. John Blofeld was a known bully at the school which Fleming’s nephew attended, albeit six years younger than Blofeld. Interestingly, there was another bully at the school, named Peter Scaramanga.
In the novels, Ernst Stavro Blofeld was born on May 28, 1908, which is also Ian Fleming’s birthday. He’s half-Polish and half-Greek and studied economics, political history, engineering, and radionics at the University of Warsaw.
Before and during World War II, Blofeld worked as a spy, selling info to both sides, and then joining the Allies. After the war, he moved to South America and later to Paris, where he set up SPECTRE with members from six big criminal organizations.
In the books, Blofeld’s appearance changes quite a bit. He starts as a massive guy with black hair and eyes, but later becomes tall and thin with silver hair, green contact lenses, and a messed-up nose. He’s always trying to hide from people chasing him, which might explain why different actors play him in the films.
In one story, Blofeld gets revenge on Bond by killing his new wife, Teresa. Then, in his final appearance, Bond finds him living in Japan as a botanist named Dr. Guntram Shatterhand. He’s got a new look again and is living with his wife, Irma Bunt, in a castle with a deadly botanical garden. Bond eventually kills him by strangling him and blowing up the castle.
And did you know Blofeld has a daughter named Nena? She’s from a fling he had with a French woman, and she ends up taking over a new version of SPECTRE in one of the stories, but she dies.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld – Bond’s Longest Running Foe
Ernst Stavro Blofeld has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the James Bond franchise as one of its most iconic and enduring villains. Throughout the novels and films, Blofeld has been portrayed in various guises, brilliantly adapted by different actors who have each brought their own unique touch to the role.
The legal complications surrounding Blofeld’s creation added an intriguing layer to his history. The eventual resolution of these disputes allowed for the character to make a triumphant return in the more recent Bond films, reintroducing him to a new generation of fans.
As the driving force behind SPECTRE, Blofeld’s influence has been felt in numerous Bond stories, both on page and screen, and the character stands as a testament to the ingenuity of his creators. If there is only one thing we can be sure of is that Blofeld cannot be killed off. So, as long as James Bond investigates crime syndicates, the specter of Blofeld will always loom large in the background.
