On the eve of Oscars honor, James Bond producers reflect on legacy and future of 007

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James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G

For the late James Bond producer Albert “Cuddy” Broccoli, receiving the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award was a true high point in his career. He said as much accepting the prize, a non-competitive honorary Oscar, at the Academy Awards in 1982.

Roger Moore presented it to him that night while his family in the audience looked on, including his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, who was reduced to a puddle of tears, and her brother, Michael G. Wilson.

“He always treasured it,” Barbara Broccoli said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “It was the most important physical possession he had.”

The award, then a bust of the inimitable “boy wonder” producer of Hollywood’s early years, sat on his mantlepiece for many years. Now, Broccoli, 64, and Wilson, 82, are following in “Cubby’s” footsteps as the 40th recipients, collecting the Oscar statuette Sunday at the 15th Governors Awards in Hollywood.

“It’s a rare honor, and I think that makes it extra special,” Wilson said.

Since its inception in 1937, the award has only been given 39 times, celebrating creative producers for a lifetime of quality films. The roster of honorees is a who’s-who of Hollywood legends from David O. Selznick and Walt Disney to Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. And only once before Broccoli has it gone to a woman, Kathleen Kennedy in 2018.

“It’s very humbling," Broccoli said. “I think of so many people who have come before us, so many people I wish had been given the honor who aren’t with us anymore.”

Though she is quick to point out all the others she thinks more deserving, the fact is that no one quite occupies the space that Broccoli and Wilson do as the guardians of the Bond franchise, one of