Ernst Stavro Blofeld

The Number One of SPECTRE, a criminal mastermind whose face was hidden while he stroked his white Persian cat.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld stands as the archenemy of British MI6 agent James Bond and the head of the global criminal organisation SPECTRE. Created by Ian Fleming, he is a supervillain with aspirations of world domination, commonly referred to by the codename Number 1 within his organization. Originally written as a physically massive man standing around 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and weighing 20 stone (280 lb; 130 kg), he later appears as a flabby figure with a huge belly or radically altered disguises. He is the most recurring antagonist in the franchise, appearing or heard in three novels: Thunderball (1961), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963); and You Only Live Twice (1964).

Quick Facts

Also known as

Dr. Guntram Shatterhand (You Only Live Twice; 1964 novel), Franz Oberhauser (Spectre; 2015 film)

Series

James Bond

First

Thunderball (1961)

Last

No Time to Die (2021)

Creator

Ian Fleming

Voice

Eric Pohlmann (uncredited)
Peter Marinker (uncredited)
Gideon Emery
Glenn Wrage

Affiliation

SPECTRE

Nationality

Polish of Greek descent

Lore & Background

According to the novel Thunderball, Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908 in Gdingen, Imperial Germany (now Gdynia, Poland). His father, Ernst George Blofeld, was Polish of German descent, and his mother, Maria Stavro Michelopoulos, was Greek. After World War I, he became a Polish national. Educated at the University of Warsaw with degrees in Political History and Economics, and later from the Warsaw University of Technology in Engineering and Radionics, he worked for the Polish Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.

Foreseeing World War II, Blofeld sold top-secret wires to Nazi Germany before destroying his records. He moved through Sweden and Turkey, selling information to both sides during the war. After backing the Allies following Erwin Rommel's defeat, he received medals before moving temporarily to South America to found SPECTRE. In the John Gardner novel For Special Services, he is depicted as having a daughter named Nena with a French prostitute.

Reader's Guide

Blofeld appears in eight Eon Productions films: From Russia with Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021). He is also possibly in For Your Eyes Only (1981) as an unnamed character, and appears in the non-Eon remake Never Say Never Again (1983). Initially, films followed a convention of not showing his face, only a close-up of hands stroking his white, blue-eyed Persian cat. His face is revealed in You Only Live Twice when he introduces himself to Bond for the first time. He has been played by Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, Max von Sydow, and Christoph Waltz. His characteristics, particularly the cat-stroking trope, have inspired parodies like Dr. Evil and Mr. Bigglesworth in Austin Powers.

Did You Know?

Blofeld's birthdate in the novels is 28 May 1908, which is also Ian Fleming's actual birthdate.
In Thunderball, Blofeld has violet-scented breath from chewing flavored cachous whenever he must deliver bad news.
The character was likely inspired by real-life Greek arms dealer Basil Zaharoff and named after John Blofeld, a judge Fleming saw at Boodle's club.
In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Blofeld is described as having no earlobes and wearing dark green tinted contact lenses to hide his eyes.
The convention of hiding Blofeld's face was broken in You Only Live Twice (1967) when he introduced himself to Bond in person.