Vargas (Philip Locke)

Datastream Actor: Philip Locke Character: Vargas Movie: Thunderball Date of Birth: 29 March 1928 Appearence: Thin, tall, and balding. Distinguishing Feature: With no known vices or interests, Vargas' icy cold persona is matched with his penchant for cold-blooded killings. Status: Terminated Organizations And Alliances: SPECTRE, Emilio Largo, Janni & Fiona Volpe Profile Largo's cold, heartless bodyguard, Vargas plays a small but significant part in SPECTRE's plan of world extortion, doing much of the hands-on dirty work for his employer. He keeps an eye on the developing relationship between Bond and Domino, but when he feels things are going too far, 007 helps him to get the point.

Personality
According to Largo, Vargas does not drink, smoke, or make love; abstinence which emphasizes his devotion as a killer. Those characteristics were used by Ian Fleming to describe the whole Disco Volante crew, but the filmmakers reduced to only one character because it would be "many men doing nothing".

Involvement After spotting him in the casino, Vargas is properly introduced to 007 by Largo while visiting the latter's estate, Palmyra. A few days later he kidnaps Bond's ally Paula Caplin at their Nassau hotel with fellow henchman Janni's help. He is killed by James Bond on a beach with a speargun in the chest after trying to kill 007 and Dominique Derval while lurking in the palm trees, with Bond coolly remarking "I think he got the point".

Biography
Philip Locke was born on 29th March 1928 in St. Marylebone, London, England and was educated at St Marylebone Central School. After a stint at RADA, he landed his first bit-part in an episode of "Jan at the Blue Fox" in 1952. But it was theatre that was closest to Locke's heart, and he turned professional at the Oldham Repertory Theatre in 1954.

With his deep-set, haunted eyes and tall, somewhat cadaverous physique, Philip Locke unsurprisingly found himself cast often as sinister villains or mad scientists in television and on film. On stage, however, he was more imaginatively cast and in a varied career,

After several non-recurring roles on the small screen, by the early 1960's he was a prolific character actor on British television, appeared as a guest star in many popular series, including: "The Saint", "Z Cars", "Bergerac", "Inspector Morse" and "Doctor Who". "Thunderball" was Locke's largest screen role of his career, with television making up the bulk of his work. His last role was in a four part "Ruth Rendell Mysteries" mini-series in 1998.

Over the course of his five-decades in the business, Locke had performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and at the Royal Court Theatre. He as nominated for Broadway's 1975 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for his performance as Professor Moriarty in "Sherlock Holmes." Locke passed away 19th April 2004.