Biography for
Maurice Binder More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 August 1925, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

9 April 1991, London, England, UK (lung cancer)

Mini Biography

American visual designer, creator of the famed opening title sequences of the James Bond movies. A native New Yorker, Binder's early work included designing advertisements and catalogs for Macy's department store. During the Second World War, he worked at Universal Studios, then became West Coast art director for Columbia Pictures. Director Stanley Donen hired Binder to create main titles for Indiscreet (1958) and used him thereafter in similar capacity on most of his films. One of them, The Grass Is Greener (1960), caught the attention of James Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, who hired Binder for the first Bond picture, Dr. No (1962). The distinctive style of the Bond main titles became a much-admired and much-parodied tradition. Binder worked up until his final illness and death in 1991 at 72.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Trivia

Probably best known for his unique title designs for the James Bond film series.

When hired to create the titles for Dr. No (1962), he was given short notice to present some ideas. Using some white sticker dots, he pitched the concept of having animated dots that would wind up starting every James Bond film. The gunbarrel that frames Bond firing at the camera was a real gunbarrel. Binder photographed one using a pinhole camera and subsequently, used the technique in every Bond film. The reason for the swirling design is to spin the bullet, which gives it a truer trajectory.

According to the commentary on the Licence to Kill (1989) DVD, Mr. Binder would frequently deliver the titles for the Bond movies at absolutely the last minute, and they would have to be spliced to the already made prints.

Because Binder delivered the title sequences for the Bond series at the very last minute, the censors would often deem them too racy because of all the naked women in them, even though audiences never saw anything to cause upset. The fact that the premieres were a charity event helped him to get around that.