LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Six actors have since assumed the mantle of Bond. A film-by-film analysis of Bond men has found that the usually soft-spoken Pierce Brosnan totted up the highest number of onscreen kills.

Roger Moore and Sean Connery closely follow with 51 kills each. Series newcomer Daniel Craig trailing in fourth place with 25, in spite of his movies generally being grittier and more violent.

Brosnan also helped bring the Bond series its then highest-ever box office takings in 1995 when he starred in "Goldeneye."

Brosnan's next two Bond films, "Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997 and "The World Is Not Enough" in 1999, did not repeat the box office success of the first. His fourth and final film "Die Another Day" again broke a box office record in 2002 taking $431,971,116.

Daniel Craig, the current Bond man took up the mantle in 2006 for "Casino Royale," which made $594,239,066 at the Box Office. Craig has only ever uttered the famous phrase: "Bond. James Bond," only once in all of his three films - which include "Quantum of Solace" and "Skyfall."

Actor Roger Moore has said it far more than any other Bond, ten times over the course of his seven movies. Moore also holds the record for the highest number of kisses with 20 onscreen clinches, closely followed by Connery with 18, and then Brosnan with 12.

Craig and Timothy Dalton both shared a measly four kisses with their various Bond girls while George Lazenby managed three in his one and only Bond film - "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1968.

The 50th anniversary of the Bond series comes just a few weeks before the latest installment "Skyfall" is set to hit big screens.

According to the film documentary, "Everything or Nothing," which charts the series proves it was a rocky ride for most everyone concerned. Personality clashes, coupled with the end of the Cold War - the character of James Bond always delivered a wink and a nod to filmgoers then terrified of nuclear destruction -- could have spelled disaster for the series.

The series was reinvented to the modern era with a female spymaster M, played by Judi Dench, and a tough and serious 007 in the form of Craig.

Asked what he thought was the key to Bond's survival, producer Michael G. Wilson, the stepson of Broccoli who now co-produces the films, said it was down to the source material - Ian Fleming's novels.

"It comes first of all from Fleming writing a character that has many aspects, so that when we turned them into film, different actors could take on different aspects of the character.

"And it's really been our great fan base we've kept faith with over the years and they've kept coming back. It's really the public that makes it more than anything else."

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