Which actor played Felix Leiter in both Live and Let Die and Licence to Kill?

David Hedison played Felix Leiter in both Live and Let Die and Licence to Kill.

Hedison first appeared as Leiter in Live and Let Die, released in 1973, when Roger Moore made his Bond debut. He returned to the role in Licence to Kill in 1989, starring opposite Timothy Dalton. This made him the only actor to play Leiter in two consecutive official Bond films during that period.

Felix Leiter is Bond’s American CIA contact and one of Ian Fleming’s recurring supporting characters. In Licence to Kill, Leiter is badly injured by drug lord Franz Sanchez, prompting Bond to pursue a personal vendetta outside normal MI6 orders.

Other actors have played Leiter across the series, including Jack Lord, Norman Burton, Jeffrey Wright, and Cec Linder. That changing casting history can make Hedison’s two appearances easy to overlook, especially because the films feature different actors as Bond.