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BBC News Online: Entertainment

Wednesday, 22 December, 1999, 12:30 GMT

Memorial service for Q

Pierce Brosnan with Desmond Llewelyn as Q

James Bond legend Desmond Llewelyn will be remembered at a memorial service in London early next year, his son has announced.

Stars from stage and screen are set to pay tribute to the 85-year-old actor, who starred as gadget inventor Q in all but two of the James Bond films.

Llewelyn was killed in a head-on car crash near Firle, East Sussex, on Sunday while on his way to meet his biographer and to sign copies of his book.

Desmond Llewelyn with Timothy Dalton

His son Ivor, 50 - who lived opposite him in the nearby seaside town of Bexhil - said his father's life would be commemorated at a memorial service at an as yet confirmed London venue, probably in March.

The ceremony will be arranged with the help of Bond production company Eon, and celebrities associated with Llewelyn's six decades as an actor are expected to be invited - including the five actors who have played James Bond: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

He said: "We haven't really thought in detail about the invitation list yet, but it must be a possibility that the Bond actors will be among those included."

Llewelyn's funeral will be held at St Mary's Church, Battle, on 6 January. It will be followed by a private family cremation.

Meanwhile, ITV is to screen a two-part documentary on Llewelyn's life, completed before his death, as a tribute to him.

A Life of Q will be shown as scheduled on 4 and 11 January. Producer Andy Brice, who made the programme for HTV Wales, said Llewelyn "was great to work with and had fantastic energy and sharpness, even at 85".

Related to this story:
Private tragedy of 007 eccentric (19 Dec 99 | Entertainment)
Bond lovers mourn Q (20 Dec 99 | UK)
'Spectacular U-turn' over Bond gong (21 Dec 99 | Scotland)

Internet Links: James Bond (MGM official site) The James Bond International Fan Club
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