Christopher Lee has hailed Irishman Pierce Brosnan as the best actor to ever play suave superspy James Bond.

Lee, who played Bond villain SCARAMANGA in 1973 installment THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN and recently defended the casting of new 007 Daniel Craig, insists Brosnan depicted Bond exactly as author IAN FLAMING intended.

He says, "In my opinion - and I think I know as much, if not more about Bond than anyone, particularly about the characters on whom Ian told me Bond was based, Pierce Brosnan was by far the best and closest to the character."